


Favoring the Bold

by xxdrarryrebellexx



Series: A Family of Favors [1]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: A Family of Favors, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Famous, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Domestic, Domestic Fluff, F/M, HP: EWE, Healer Harry Potter, How Do I Tag, I Don't Even Know, I Ship It, Love Triangles, M/M, Musician Draco Malfoy, POC Harry Potter, Self-Indulgent, another one, famous draco
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-18
Updated: 2018-04-05
Packaged: 2019-04-04 06:22:49
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 26
Words: 34,354
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14014086
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xxdrarryrebellexx/pseuds/xxdrarryrebellexx
Summary: Harry always felt like families were just a fickle idea, so when Malfoy wanted to become a famous musician Harry was fine with raising their son alone. A son that 8 years later Draco still didn't know existed.What happens when Malfoy comes to town hoping to rekindle the fire of lost love? Will Harry stop him? Can he stop himself from falling so hard- again?





	1. - a -

**Author's Note:**

> another story where im probably the only person to actually want it. here ya go anyway haha

It started with a fling their eighth year. They ran into each other one day in Myrtle's bathroom. Emotions were high. Their silence was louder than anything else. When they finally made contact it wasn't with fists or spells, but kisses and soft caresses and whispers of " _I've always wanted you_."

It went on for months. The secret dates and midnight rendezvous. By the end of eighth year they had become the it-couple. Not even they knew how it happened.

 

**\--:--**

 

Harry had never expected himself to fall for Malfoy, that was for sure, but they had been together for 3 years now and he couldn't see his life without the blonde. The knock on his door was sudden.

"Potter, if you aren't dressed in 5 minutes I'm leaving you!"

 

"Wait! My robes got tangled again."

 

"You've been wearing them since school, we've only been out for two years. No way you've always been this dense," Draco pushed the door open and smiled as he examined his darker skinned boyfriend. He reached a hand out and fixed the robes on instinct before smiling down at Harry and placing a kiss on the hand he had pulled away from the fabric around his neck. "You look very handsome, now can we go?"

Harry laughed but nodded as he closed their bedroom door behind them and tried to stand up straighter.

"I can't even stay for your audition I have an appointment with the healer about the bludger incident, so why do I have to be so dressed up," he said whining as he put his arms out to the side as it to emphasize how uncomfortable he felt.

 

"Because you're escorting me in first and I have to give them a good impression so they can approve me for the muggle auditions."

 

The ravenette smiled. Draco was trying to be a Muggle musician, because they had had enough of the wizarding world. At least for the most part. They even lived in Muggle England, but if these wizarding-preliminary auditions went well they would be on their way to New York in America. The preliminaries were mostly to check that Malfoy's performance did not include magic or break any international secrecy laws.

"And anyway," continued the blonde with a smirk. "You get a bludger to the head almost every time you play quidditch at the Burrow. What's so different this time?"

 

"Well this time I wanted to be there for _you_. But you went and arranged the audition at the same time as my appointment."

 

"You make me nervous, I don't want anything to blow this for me. Especially thinking of you _actually_ blowing me."

Harry chuckled because he remembered the last time he and Draco had to give a speeches in public. Everything was going great. As always Draco spoke with an elegance that was rivaled by none, but when Harry smiled at him the blonde couldn't help but blush and stutter through the rest of it.

"It isn't funny, Potter!" Draco said smacking his arm."Let's go."

 

"Yes, sir," mumbled the brown skinned man as he looped an arm around Draco's waist and apparated them to the theatre. Once they had landed and he had taken a moment to calm his heart rate he tightened his grip slightly and smiled up at his boyfriend as they walked down a glimmering carpet towards the line of people preparing for their turn. No one turned to stare at them, well no more than usual, as they exchanged kisses and hugs.

 

"Meet me at home," murmured the blonde and Harry nodded then leaned up and made a show of kissing his cheek. He always knew how to make the blonde smile.

 

"You're going to do great. I'm sure of it." He walked back outside the edge of the theater's apparation ward before heading to St. Mungos. He walked up to the counter which, luckily, wasn't very crowded today. "Hey Quincy," he spoke to the smiling guy behind the tall counter like an old friend. "I'm here to see-"

 

"Healer Roberts, yeah? If it was another bludger, mate, you know she's going to tell you to stop playing, like forever or something." He signed Harry in all the same. "She'll be with you on a moment. You know where the waiting room is. Actually mate, could you bring me a bag of crisps?"

 

"Sure, Quincy." He turned before placing his wand in the slot so it's magical signature could be read in exchange for the snack. It was one of the most interesting and updated machines in the building which he knew only because he had interned here with Hermione and Quincy during eighth year.

Although Quincy wasn't in their year or even their house, they all seemed to get along pretty well. He grabbed the crisps and tossed them to his friend and sat down to wait. He tapped his foot impatiently for what seemed like hours.

When a nurse came to call his name and lead him back, he checked the clock. Barely 30 minutes had passed.

Almost immediately Healer Roberts was there. Now that he thought about it maybe she had come so quickly because she thought it was going to be a quick get-in, give-a-lecture, and get-out. In his defense that's what Harry had expected it to be as well. Until she gave him a quick wand scan and backed away with a big smile but even bigger eyes. Then she started talking to him about the rate of _wizard pregnancies._

He didn't even know they were _possible_.

"Well they aren't very common," she insisted. "Both parents need to be incredibly strong wizards. They need to be resilient enough to withstand anything if I'm being honest with you, Mr. Potter. Not to mention-" he let his shock explain away the fact that he zoned out 3 times during her speech. Sure he was happy. Thrilled really, but that would push he and Draco moving to the states another year at least.

Draco was building a name right now, or he was trying to. When the appointment was over he nodded and headed out with hands full of pamphlets and papers and a list of vitamin and nutrient potions he needed to start taking in three weeks that he could pick up from a local apothecary as soon as possible.

When he got home Draco was pacing across the floor trying to hide a grin that made Harry's stomach churn. He wasn't sure if that was good or bad. When his boyfriend turned to him with those huge grey eyes he knew it was both and he couldn't help but send a wet smile back.

Their tones were different but their words were the same.

"You won't believe what happened..."

 

Harry shut his mouth quickly and nodded to his partner with a small grin. The blonde started speaking animatedly about his audition and Harry made a decision.

He felt like he was going to vomit.

"What's wrong, Harry?" asked Draco and the ravenette shook his head. "I thought you would be happy for me..." Draco voiced aloud.

 

"I am happy for you, Dray. I'm thrilled."

 

"That's funny, because you don't look 'happy for me'," the blonde said with air quotes before trying to storm off into their shared bedroom. Before he got to the door Harry spoke quietly.

 

"It's just...something came up."

 

Malfoy turned around as though a switch had gone off, his eyes flaming with anger instead of self pity.

"Something came up?" he spit back at Harry. "I've been rehearsing for months! We've been planning this move for a year almost! What the bloody fucking hell could have _come up_!?"

 

Harry floundered around for the best way to answer, but Draco spoke up again. More somber this time. Determined almost.

"I knew this would happen. You spout all that shit about not caring about your name and how everyone sees you, but that's what this is about isn't it?" He waved his wand and caught his bag once it came souring through the room. "You don't want me to be famous. You like being the guy dating the ex-deatheater. 'Saint Potter Still Saving Us All' is that it?"

 

"No," Harry stepped closer but Draco was too fast and too consumed by his anger. "You know it's not like that. Draco, I love you. Stop being so melodramatic."

That was not what he should have said.

"That's another thing," Draco said as he made it to the door. "When you're angry, you have viable reason, but if I'm angry then I'm just 'pitching a fit' or being 'melodramatic'. Well, why don't I take my drama elsewhere, yeah?"

 

The door slammed before Harry could even open his mouth. He stood there gaping, his mouth moving like a fish out of water for longer than he could remember.

He put his head in his hands and breathed.

"I'm pregnant, Draco." He spoke to an empty room. "How sodding hard was that to say, Potter?" he reprimanded himself before gripping at his hair angrily. He tried wand-calling Draco 7 times before giving up. When he went to the bedroom it looked as though the blonde was never there. Neither of them had brought much with them to the flat, but now that half of the things were gone, Harry remembered what it was like to be alone. He tried calling one more time, but gave up on the third ring and just crawled into the bed.

He supposed that was it. Draco was off to the states tomorrow. He cried himself to sleep and called Ron and Hermione first thing the next morning.


	2. - b -

"Come on, Dad! Teddy is responsible enough for the both of us!" The light skinned, messy haired boy stared up at his father with impossibly hazel eyes. Harry wasn't sure if his son's eyes looked more grey or green today, but as he flipped the pancakes he was determined not to find out. He glanced at the boy quickly before looking away. His hair was dark brown but flecked with patches of pure Malfoy blonde that had originally made Harry burst into laughter, because _Of Course_. He had Draco's pointed ears and nose with Harry's thicker lips and rounder eyes. It had been more than 7 years since Malfoy left and Harry was **fine**. _Thank you very much._

Then again, he was pointedly not thinking about it. That part was made difficult when his almost 8 year old son was whining about going to a 'DL Black' concert.

"Let me think about it," said Harry as he set a plate of breakfast in front of his son. "You still have another 2 weeks until your birthday, remember? Now eat up so we can make it to the apparation point in time. You have school in..." he checked the clock. "45 minutes. 'Mione will kill me if you're late again."

 

James grinned and continued to stuff his mouth with food.

"When you say you'll think about it, does that mean yes? Please, dad."

 

Harry picked up his son's bookbag that was covered in stickers and buttons. One of the largest being a DL Black sticker he got from Teddy.

"What's so special about this DL Black anyway?" He ruffled James' hair as he walked by.

 

"Well he's a muggle musician, but Teddy says that he's really a wizard in disguise! Do you think that's true, dad? Teddy's always saying stuff like that. He swears this time it's true though."

 

"You never know, Jamesie. Now come on, you can eat the rest after school."

 

"It's going to be c-"

 

Harry set a preservation charm over the rest of the meal.

"What was that?" He asked goofily with a grin as his son threw on his bookbag and smiled while gripping his hand and preparing for the walk down to the apparation point.

They arrived at the Primary Wizard Academy and ran up the path to the door. Once inside they rushed James as quickly as possible towards his class. He took a deep breath and walked through the door just as the bell rang to signal the beginning of class. Harry sighed in relief and turned to leave the building, but just as he was about to pass the office door Hermione caught his arm and turned him back around.

"James is late again?" She questioned with her hands on her hips, shorter than him, darker skinned and pregnant, but still looking every bit like his mother.

 

"No, mum. We walked in right on time."

 

"Then he was almost late. What's the excuse today?" She raised ab eyebrow at him.

 

"No excuse." He shrugged in an effort to look nonchalant. "He was asking about going to that concert with Teddy again."

 

"Oh, Harry..." He edged around her before she could start crying or worse: _hug_ him.

 

"You'll drop James and Teddy at my place on your way home, right?" He didn't wait for an answer before thanking her, running to the nearest apparation point and disapparating home with a pop.

Lucky for him though, the conversation continued that afternoon when the kids got home.

"Did your Aunt Hermione leave already?" he asked a moment too soon.

 

"No. I was just taking a break. You didn't tell me that the baby soaked up so much magic energy."

 

"Well in the later months, of course. But you did all that research for me, remember?"

 

"Not at the moment. Can I have a seat?" She asked already lowering herself down into the lounge chair in the living room. Harry answered in the affirmative, but still shook his head understandably at his friend.

 

"We aren't having this conversa-"

 

"You have to talk about it at some point."

 

"Fine. Teddy you and James go chuck the gnomes." The two looked at each other with wide grins before racing out the back door. Since Draco left Harry had gotten a new place. Something a bit more home-like. It was still in a muggle area, but as he watched his son and his godson toss gnomes into the air he realized that he couldn't run away from magic. It seemed to follow him. "What do you want me to say Hermione? That I'll take him to the bloody concert? It'll kill me and you know it."

 

"Harry it's been almost 8 years. I think it's time for you to be in the same vicinity. Even if it's just for James' sake. At least tell him about James."

 

"Hermione I just can't..."

She nodded before he could give her a real reason, but still handed him three tickets to the DL Black Concert.

 

"Even if you don't talk to him, You are taking both of your sons to see him, because they are excited already and the rest of us need time to set up Jamesie's party."

He sighed as he helped her stand, but agreed all the same. He led her to the fireplace and helped her through the floo. Once she was gone he sat down and tossed his head back against the couch.

"We still have two weeks. I can do this," he breathed to himself. He pushed himself up and made determined strides into the kitchen before snatching a menu off the fridge and screaming for the boys to come back inside.

They both came to a screeching halt in the kitchen covered in mud and dirt and gnome bites, effectively humouring Harry enough to force a laugh from him.

 

"Go take a bath. Both of you. I'm going to order in. Is the usual okay?"

 

"Extra curry for me though," yelled Teddy as he and James raced up the stairs.

 

"Sir, yes, sir," Harry muttered back before picking up his mobile and placing the order. He hung up the phone and waited for delivery. _Just another day_ , he insisted to himself, but the DL Black tickets burning a hole in his pocket were really begging to differ.


	3. - c -

Harry had done everything he could to not think about it. James was early to school every day for the next week and a half. He cleaned and recleaned and deep cleaned the house almost 13 times. His yard was garden gnome free. Even his floo sparkled as if it had never been used.

The day of James' birthday he screamed into his pillow before getting up, making breakfast and placing those evil tickets on the counter-island beside his son's plate.

The ebony haired man walked into James' room with a stack of frosted pancakes with 8 candles proudly sticking out the top. He waved his hand, using magic to lift his son off the bed a bit before dropping him back down. When the boy his the bed his eyes peeped open and Harry smiled at him.

"Happy Birthday, Jamesie!"

The small boy was up in a flash. He snatched the plate of pancakes and ran to the kitchen.

"Dad, come on! It's my birthday. I absolutely _have_ to be to school on time today or...or...well I don't know what'll happen, but it can't be good." The boy climbed into his seat and started tucking into his food. Harry stood back and prepared for the moment of truth. As the hazel eyes boy swallowed a gulp of his orange juice he noticed the paper on the counter. He set the glass down slowly before really looking at the papers. He picked his glasses from beside his plate and shoved them onto his face before snatching the papers from the counter.

Harry covered his ears but smiled just as James turned around and screeched happily and threw himself onto his dad for a hug.

"Really? I can really go? You're the best dad in the whole world! Wait 'til I tell Teddy that we're going...wait- Teddy can go too right?" His voice fell as he thought about not having his older brother (Harry never bothered to explain the difference) there with him.

 

"Of course Teddy's going."

 

"Brilliant!" The boy shouted before rushing upstairs to get dressed.

Hermione wand-called him almost seconds later.

 

"I can't drop Teddy and James off today. I'm going to pick up the cake then we're going to start decorating so you need to take them out all day and just bring them back after the concert. Okay?"

 

"'Mione I don't think this is a good idea, I mean-"

 

"Okay?" she spoke a bit more harshly this time and Harry knew there was no arguing with that tone.

 

"Fine. I'll pick them up today."

 

"Great. I just know you're going to have a good time, all things considered." She hung up before he could respond and he set his wand back on the counter.

 

"You ready yet, Jamesie?"

 

"I think I'm too old for that nickname, don't you, Dad?" James said as he literally attempted to swagger down the steps towards his father. Harry nodded while trying to hide his blooming smile.

His son had attempted to slick his hair back, but it was still sticking up in places. He was wearing a green tshirt with a mini leather jacket adorned with assorted dragon pins & buttons from his Uncle Charlie, and pair of khakis.

 

"Oh yeah, of course, James Lucius. Too old to be called Jamesie. That is definitely a baby name, if I've ever heard one. I will make sure everyone knows." Harry snorted a laugh to himself.

 

"Brilliant," he said nodding resolutely as if he had just closed a huge deal. "Now we have to get to school and I want to walk to the apparation point without holding your hand."

 

"Alright," shrugged Harry with a grin before ruffling his sons hair. "It's your day, big man."

 

His son narrowed his eyes at him before fixing his hair and Harry was shocked at how much he looked like Draco in that one moment. The real Draco.

The trip to school was faster than he expected and he doesn't remember saying much, but James spoke enough for the both of them.

 

"Don't forget I'm picking you and Teddy up this afternoon, okay? Taking you guys on a secret birthday trip."

 

James' eyes were huge as a grin split his face while he ran off, waving a happy "see ya later, dad!" and rushing into the classroom just before the bell rang.

That afternoon Harry sat just outside the school doors, tapping his foot absently and mucking up his already messy hair. When he looked up both of his boots were grinning impishly at him.

 

"Something wrong, Dad?" asked Teddy as they walked to a nearby muggle ice cream parlor.

 

"No, just thinking..." he responded while running a hand through his hair.

 

"'Bout what?" asked James as he bounced slightly ahead.

 

"Nothing you need to worry about, birthday boy." Harry made a goofy face at his son before throwing an arm over Teddy's small shoulders. They had reached the parlor but decided they had no time to waste sitting inside. "Now c'mon you two. We have big plans tonight, right?"

 

"Right!" They both cheered as Harry ordered the three cones and steered the kids towards a nearby park.

Harry sat with his back against a tree and watched from the shade as they played easily with the muggle kids. He had decided to relax as much as possible, because he knew that today would change everything.

Even if he didn't tell Draco the truth about James, he would be seeing the blonde in person again for the first time in years. Sure they had ended on a rough note, but he still loved the paler man in a way he had only loved him since they were finishing school.

He took a deep breath and stood. He couldn't keep putting it off.

 

"James! Teddy! Time to go!" He smiled as they rushed up to him with red faces and dirty clothes. "Okay, one more stop then we're off. You guys ready to see DL Black in concert?" They both cheered and he took that as a yes as he led them to an apparation point on the sidewalk and headed to Andromeda's house for a change of clothes.

When they walked in Andromeda greeted them all with a smile and then bent over to give James a kiss on the cheek.

 

"Happy birthday, James."

 

"Thanks, Gam," he said blushing through his lopsided grin.

 

"And Teddy here, tells me you guys are going to see this DL character?" When he nodded she smiled at him fondly. "Have a good time for me, okay?"

They both nodded so she set a hard stare at Harry.

"Come with me to the garden for s moment, won't you, dear?" He gulped but nodded and followed her out the door while the two boys starting rummaging through her candy jar. "And you two go get cleaned up." When they ran off again she turned back to the emerald eyed man she thought of as a son. "So I suppose you're going to tell my nephew he has a son, now?"

 

"Well- I..." Harry stuttered out a partial answer and she smacked him on the back of the head with her gardening gloves.

 

"He deserves to know, Harry." She gave him a tender look before patting his cheek lovingly. "Make sure the boys have fun. I'm going to finish up a few things here then head to your place for the party." She turned back to look at him once more while pulling on her gloves. "Enjoy yourself too, dear."

 

He nodded and turned to go inside. He gathered up the boys who were clean and dressed again.

 

"Ready to go?" he asked the boys who looked like they were going to burst from excitement.

 

"I'm so ready I could puke!" yelped James and it broke the tension that was holding Harry's shoulders so tightly and he burst into laughter.

 

"Okay, well let's not keep you waiting any longer, James Lucius. It's your day."

 

They headed off to the concert. The two boys with grins that could blind the sun and their guardian with a smile that was only a few steps from being a grimace.


	4. - d -

"Now when we get inside I don't want you guys going all over the place, okay? Stick with me. There are a lot of people here and-"

 

"Chill, Dad. We'll be fine. Stop freaking out," Teddy said laughing before he recognized a few kids he knew from school and pulled Harry and James along behind him.

 

"Yeah dad," James giggled. "Chill out."

 

Harry rolled his eyes and waved at the new children as they joined them and their parents. The kids all spoke to James as if he was in their group as well before the lights began to dim and the concert was set to begin.

 

"Sometimes," started a voice through the dark. "We're put in these places we shouldn't. Say things we shouldn't. Do things we shouldn't. But this song goes out to anyone who feels like they should!"

 

A bright light split the darkness and standing in the front of a now screaming crowd was Draco Malfoy just as Harry had remembered him. Sure there was a band behind him now, but as he performed all sites were on him. As similar as it was, it wasn't magic, but his stage presence that kept them enamored. The grace and elegance of a Malfoy born and bred.

"He's so different!" said one wizarding mother beside him.

 

"Not at all like how he used to be!" stated another.

 

"I'm glad he learned his lesson," replied the first again looking at Harry this time for approval.

 

"Yeah," he answered noncomitally. "Different..."

 

DL Black strut across the stage in the way he was always meant to do and in that moment Harry was certain Draco didn't need him to come in and muck up his royally famous life. After a while Harry found himself singing along to songs he had heard millions of times thanks to his boys and the rest of the pop-culture-muggle-spewing world.

He looked down to find James with the hugest grin on his face, singing along with Teddy and his friends. A tear slid down his cheek as he watched his son, because for once he would get to spend his birthday with both of his father's and it was more than he could handle. He took a few deep breaths to steady himself. In what seemed like an eternity later the lights flashed back with an almost astounding blindness.

Through a chant of " _DL! DL! DL!_ " Harry felt a hand tugging at his clothes. He looked down to see Teddy looking longingly at the merchandise that was quickly being sold out.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," he said sarcastically. "I'm only here to spend the galleons, huh?"

 

"No," said James with a shocked expression.

 

"You're also here to get us backstage," supplied Teddy with a teasing glimmer in his eye that Harry was sure the boy's mom would have been proud of.

 

"Oh yes," said Harry with an eye roll. "How could I have thought anything else?"

 

Teddy shrugged at him but dragged he and James along all the same.

"I'm still trying to figure that out," said the boy whose hair was rapidly flying through a rainbow of colors, matching his excitement.

When they arrived at the curtain to go backstage they were stopped abruptly.

"Sorry, man," said a tall buff man with long shaggy hair who Harry assumed was a bodyguard. "DL isn't letting kids back tonight. They can meet the band on stage, but he's pretty tired."

 

Harry nodded numbly and wondered if Draco somehow knew. If he had seen Harry out there and just knew why he was here. He looked down at his boys who were a bit down at not meeting their idol, but still excited to get to bang on the drums and strum the guitars with DL Black's actual band. When they headed on stage Teddy's friends joined them and the mothers stood watch while Harry went to speak to the leading blonde.

"Do you guys want me to get anything signed?" Teddy shook his head then remembered he had brought a shirt for an occupied James and stuffed it down his own shirt as a present for his little brother. He ran to Harry and stuffed the fabric into the grown man's hands.

 

"It's for Jamesie." Then off he ran again to mess with any instrument he was allowed.

 

Harry arrived back in front of the shaggy hair guard childless and with a small smirk the man lifted half the curtain and allowed him through. When he entered the little room he chuckled to himself, because of course Malfoy couldn't wait to get a massage.

 

"Is this why kids aren't allowed back here tonight?" Harry asked casually.

 

"Well this and I'm naked under this towel." The blonde didn't even look up. Harry repressed the earge to both laugh and cry.

 

"I do suppose it's best not to traumatize them early. Though I heard it builds character."

 

The blonde snorted a laugh into the massage table before lifting a hand and waving the masseur off.

"That'll be all, Laya. Thank you."

 

You could tell the exact moment he saw Harry. _Really saw him_. His eyes lit up, but his face went from confident to awkward to shy in a matter of moments before going back to its safety net from so long ago.

"Potter."

 

"You were really good out there tonight, Dray. How is everything?"

 

"Uh-er... things are fine, Potter. How are you?" he asked tightly as if he wanted to be anywhere else at that moment.

 

"Suprisingly well, actually. Although I am a little curious though..."

 

"About what?" The blonde was standing across from his past lover in nothing but a towel with his arms crossed.

 

"A little birdie told me you weren't wearing anything under that towel." The ravenette raked his eyes up Draco's pale body. The man was still lean, he assumed that was just in his genetic makeup, but he had filled out a bit more. He was still taller than Harry, even though they had both grown a bit more since the last time either of them had spoke.

Green eyes met grey and Harry noticed the blonde was blushing. He sent him a crooked grin but shook his head.

"I'm actually here so you can sign this," as he spoke he held up the small t-shirt. "Teddy insisted."

 

"My little cousin, Teddy?"

 

Harry nodded as he held the shirt out trying as hard as possible to not look tense.

Draco took the shirt and it was clear this had made him more comfortable. This was something he had grown accustomed to.

 

"Any requests?" he asked without looking up and uncapping his marker.

 

"'To James, I wish you luck in your future endeavors' or something equally sappy, would be fine."

 

Draco signed the garment seemingly on autopilot and handed it back to him.

Harry smiled, thanked him and turned to leave, but Draco stopped him. He spoke practically in a whisper.

"Do you still stay in our flat?"

 

"Er no...actually I moved into a house. It's across town from there. Same muggle area, but closer to a wizarding area too."

 

"I'm going to be in town for a few days while the tour is on a break. Would you mind if- I mean, would it be okay- Could I maybe stop by?" Draco was blushing and staring at his feet as if they were teenagers again. just figuring everything out. Harry looked at him and it was as if they had been transported back to Hogwarts and they were just two boys from two different worlds who knew it wouldn't work out but were stubborn enough to try anyway.

Harry gave him a goofy grin.

"Yeah, that'd be great," he wrangled a receipt from his pocket and wrote his address on the back before handing it back. "Guess I'll see you around, Malfoy."

 

"Obviously," drawled the blonde.

 

Then Harry turned abruptly and walked back through the curtain to find both of his boys waiting for him. One with wide eyes and the other with lidded eyes, so close to sleep.

"Is my birthday boy tired?" He asked picking the boy up on his back. "Guess that means no cake for you then."

 

It was an almost immediate result. James reached up and stuck both hands in Harry's hair and started giggling.

 

"I'm always up for cake, silly!" he said drumming on his dad's head causing Teddy to laugh too.

 

"How could I forget?" laughed Harry as he led them out of the concert stadium and towards the apparation point.

They were headed on home with a familiar tug and a blur of color. They landed firmly in front of their house. They walked up slowly, laughing and joking the entire way. When they opened the doors the lights were out and a moment later-

 

_**"SURPRISE!"** _

 

Harry smiled as Teddy ran off to greet everyone. He set down a still surprised James who was sporting his paler father's blush right up to the peaks of his ears.

 

"This is for me?" he asked no one in particular. When Ron came up and ruffled his hair with a 'well duh, little buddy.' He beamed. "Excellent."

 

As all the kids seemed to find each other Hermione wobbled over to Harry.

 

"You look due to pop," he said with a small smile.

 

"Did you speak to him?" She said, right down to business as usual.

 

"Yes, mother."

 

"About James?"

 

"Not quite. He did sign this shirt for Jamesie from Teddy, though. That's enough for this year, don't you think?"

 

"No. So if you didn't talk about James what did you talk about?" she narrowed her eyes at him.

 

"He's going to be in town for a few days..."

 

"Oh, Harry," Hermione said gripping his shoulder. "Tell me you didn't-"

 

There was a knock at the door and James ran to get it.

 

"You did!" she said.

 

"I did," he confirmed.

 

Then James opened the door.


	5. - e -

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> listen. none of my stories are beta'd. lol
> 
> like i m e a n, i read over my stuff and shrug and change any obvious mistakes. so if you see any i missed, lemme know. or if you know a thing or two about beta reading, also lemme know
> 
> im honestly not too bothered. i like writing and telling stories and i when i read over it, i don't think my work is atrocious so...lol
> 
> enjoy

Once the concert was over and Draco had met everyone he was supposed to, he and his wizard bodyguards disapparated and went to his hotel. That's where he was now. Locked in his room for his own protection, bored out of his mind.

Draco stood pacing in his room staring at the receipt still turned over in his hand. He had the address memorized. He couldn't believe Harry had even wanted to see him let alone talk to him. He had been meaning to contact him, but a wand call seemed too impersonal for an apology and luckily he didn't just pop in, because he had moved.

The blonde sat heavily on his bed and twined his hands together before standing abruptly again.

Something was up. Harry didn't hate him. He had watched the darker man from the moment his eyes met those endless pools of green. The way his lopsided smile crawled onto his lips just as easily as it always had. The way the corners of his lips pulled up just slightly when he saw the moment Draco recognized him. The way his grip tightened on the shirt once the blonde had given it back to him as if it were something precious. As if _he_ were something precious.

_Why didn't Harry hate him?_

He had just left. Harry was begging him not to go and he did. He packed his stuff in a fit of anger and left. Why didn't _he_ hate Harry? Sure, he had been being a bit of a prat, but Harry never came after him. Harry always came after him.

That wasn't the first time Draco had left. He had packed his things plenty of times and went to stay with Blaise or Pansy or his mother back at the Manor. But Harry always came after him. It's what he did. That night. The next morning. A day later. He gave Draco the time he needed and he _always_ knew how much time Draco needed.

Maybe Harry had decided to give up on them, then. They were too much alike. They held too much animosity. He realized after years of trying that in the end it couldn't work out.

He placed his head in his hands after turning the receipt to ash.

He could still see the address as clearly as if he had it emblazoned across the inside of his eyelids.

 

"I'm just going to give him a piece of my mind." He shook his head. "No, I'm going to apologize." This time he nodded to himself. He stood and put on a pair of dark muggle jeans with a muggle tshirt and his typical dragonhide boots. He wrote a quick note to his guard to know he wasn't lost of kidnapped.

 

 _Deep breaths_ , he reminded himself.

Draco grabbed his wand and kept the address firmly in his head then finally disapparated with a pop. He appeared in front of a small porch then turned to look out onto a nice yard in an even nicer neighborhood. He smiled small and walked up the steps.

The blonde brushed his hair back with one hand then knocked on the door. He stopped abruptly once he noticed the voices and the noises that had also abruptly stopped on the other side of the door. Before he could think about retreating the door opened and a boy who couldn't be more than 10 opened the door. The messy hair that looked so familiar was a shock.

 

"Wow! You're DL Black!"

 

"Draco is fine," he said squatting down to the boys level. "What's your name?"

 

"James Lucius Sirius Potter," the boy said as he straightened up and stuck his hand out proudly. Draco's eyes went wide. "Are you here for my birthday party? Did my dad invite you?"

 

It was like that one statement doused him with cold water and he looked up into about 20 surprised faces, though he was only interested in one.

Harry looked a mix of embarrassed and proud and Draco couldn't quite figure out why. He supposed he shouldn't be surprised that Harry had found someone to have little Potters with. He was surprised, however, that whoever had shacked up with him let him name the newest Potter after a Malfoy.

 

"Of course he invited me. I wouldn't miss this for the world," he finally responded after a moments hesitation. He reached into what seemed like thin air and pulled out a set of child size robes. He had figured out how to get a direct connection to the maker through their catalogues and the money would come straight from Gringotts. Even living in the states there was nowhere safer for the Malfoy fortune, in his opinion.

 

He handed the boy the robes with a smile.

 

"Happy birthday, James Lucius."

 

"So it's true then," said another boy with bright blue hair and an excited smile. "You really are a wizard then?"

 

"I suppose," he said mysteriously with a raised eyebrow and a smirk. He moved into the house and allowed James to excitedly close the door behind him. "You've gotten big, Teddy."

 

"You know my name!?" The boy said with huge eyes.

 

"It'd be a travesty if I didn't. Now," he said raking a hand through his own hair with another smirk. "Show me how blonde you can go."

 

The boy grinned wickedly at the challenge before focusing on Malfoy's hair. In less than a minute he was staring back at Draco with that platinum blonde hair that was his signature.

 

"Brilliant," whispered the older blonde as he ruffled the boys hair then moved on to hug his aunt Andromeda and give small greetings to everyone else. When he got closer to Hermione he noticed that she was indeed pregnant and things started to fall into place.

Only she would be kind enough to let Harry name their son after a Malfoy. He stepped closer to offer his congratulations, but stopped in his tracks as Weasley leaned in and kissed her cheek before whispering something in her ear.

He looked around again, but everyone else had already been accounted for. Luna stood with the young Scamander, Mr. and Mr. Finnegan were grinning at each other while talking to Hannah Abbott who was practically squeezing Longbottom into a happy pulp.

 

Then he looked up.

 

On the mantle he noticed a muggle picture of the golden trio, but Harry was decidedly rounder. His eyes widened and when he turned around Harry was there with an open mouth as if he were about to say something. Draco quickly shook his head to clear his thoughts before clearing his throat.

 

"Potter, can I speak with you?"

 

"Er- Okay?"

 

"Alone," said the blonde clenching his jaw. He chanced a glance at the birthday boy who had run to change into his new robes and had just returned. He saw Harry gulp, but the ebony haired man led him upstairs to a room that only held a desk and its matching chair.

 

"So uh- what did you want to talk about," the shorter man said fidgeting with something in his pocket before running a hand through his messy hair.

 

"James Lucius?" asked Draco not looking at Harry.

 

"I didn't want to play favorites..." The dark man toed the ground as he decidely did not look at Draco either.

 

"Why would it be playing favorites, just because you're being the hero again. Trying to prove a point or something."

 

"What are you even talking about?"

 

"I'm sure whoever else was involved...I mean, I saw that you carried, but whoever was _with_ you- they can't have been happy that you named him after my father."

Harry's head snapped up and for the first time in years Draco remembered why he had fell in love with the fire in Potter's eyes.

 

"You don't get it, do you?"

 

"Oh, I get it completely. Name a child and kill a few grudges all at once. Two birds, and one stone."

 

"No, Draco, that's not-" Harry stepped closer to him as if that would help him to understand it better. "I named him after both of our father's, because he's our son."

 

" _Our_? As in-?"

 

"As in you and I." Harry looked down again.

 

"Harry, I haven't seen you in-"

 

"8 years and 9 months, give or take..."

 

"I can't- this doesn't- I don't-"

 

"On his official records he's documented as Malfoy-Potter," continued Harry. "It was just easier to teach him 'Potter' when he got older. He _loves_ you, though. Well famous you. I don't know how that stacks up with the real you anymore, to be honest." Harry chuckled and shook his head a bit.

 

"You let him listen to my music?"

 

"I wasn't going to stop him from knowing you," the ravenette said shrugging. "Do you want to meet him properly?"

 

Draco nodded and Harry smiled at him.

 

"Stay here," he said quietly with another quick smile before he went to gather the youngest Potter.


	6. - f -

"Hey Jamesie! Could you come up here a minute?" Draco heard his exlover yell down the stairs.

 

"Dad!" the boy whined. "We talked about this."

 

"You're absolutely right, James Lucius," he said as they neared the door, "but there is someone I would like for you to meet properly."

 

As they stepped into the room, the boy looked up and rolled his eyes before turning back to his green eyed father.

 

"I already met, Mr. Black, dad. Remember, when he came to the door?" He tried to reach in his tiptoes to feel Harry's forehead as if enough years of hanging with his aunt Hermione meant he knew what all the tells of a sick man were.

 

"Yes, but that's just his stage name. Like for show." James nodded, but narrowed his eyes at the famous blonde. "His real name is Draco Lucius Malfoy."

 

"My middle name is Lucius too! Well my first one anyway. See, I have two in the middle," explained the boy excitedly.

 

"Yeah, Jamesie, we know."

 

"That's pretty cool Mr. Bla- I mean, Malfoy," the boy said calming down and nodding with a blush on his cheeks.

 

"Remember when we talked about you being born from me instead of a regular mum?" The boy nodded. "Well you want to know something even cooler?" asked Harry quietly, squatting so he was on his son's level, looking up at Draco more than usual.

 

"Wha-?" The boy asked looking between the two men excited yet again.

 

"Draco here, is your other dad."

 

The boy's eyes got incredibly wide before he attached himself to his newfound father. He looked up at him happy but skeptical.

 

"Is that true, sir?"

 

Draco nodded numbly before getting on his knees and wrapping his arms around the smaller boy. How could Harry think he didn't want this? A family with him. In this little house. In this little neighborhood. In this muggle town. Harry smiled at them both, one of his goofy, lopsided, wet smiles with tears in his eyes and one making its way down his cheek.

Draco remembered that face. It was the exact one Harry had made when he left.

 

"That's what you were trying to tell me," he whispered, but Harry heard him and nodded.

 

"It's fine. You deserve your job. I'm glad you were finally able to make it big."

 

Draco shook his head and pulled away from his son- _their_ son- before kissing the boy's cheek and then smiling at him.

 

"JL," said the man with a wink. "Would you mind heading back down stairs so I can talk to your dad for a bit?"

 

"Yeah, sure dad!" James ran out of the room with a scream of: _DL Black is my dad!_

 

Both men were standing again. The blonde had his arms crossed and was staring holes into the side of a very embarrassed Harry.

 

"Why didn't you just tell me?"

 

"Draco, I tried. You were upset. Understandably so, we had been planning that trip for ages. Then I called and you wouldn't answer your wand..." He shook his head. "It's over now. He really wanted to come to your concert and Teddy wanted to get that shirt signed for him. It's no big deal. Nothing has to change."

 

"Harry, everything is different now! I have a kid. _We_ have a kid. A living breathing kid and you weren't even going to tell me."

 

"He's eight, Draco. I thought it would be a little late to expect us to play happy family. We're fine. When the weekend is over he'll be back in school and you'll be back on tour. You can call if you want, but it's too late to think I'm going to just pick up our life here, because you don't like it." The messy haired man was still shorter, but that didn't mean he wasn't going to stand up to the pale blonde man.

The blonde in question broke down. He looked at the ground then back up at Harry in a way that the other man knew was an alert for not knowing how to deal with vulnerability. He shook his head.

 

"I don't want- I'm not saying-" He shook his head again then took a deep breath before starting again. "I'm not saying I want you to pick up your lives here. I'm saying I want to be a part of them. I came here tonight, because I wanted to apologize and see if I could work things out with you. If we could at least be friends..."

Draco shook his head but continued speaking.

"Then he opened the door and he looked just like- well now that I think about it- a perfect mix of us, but all I saw was you. I knew he was yours from the moment I laid eyes on him. I just didn't expect him to be mine as well."

 

Harry shook his head and ran a hand through his hair.

 

"What are you trying to say, Draco?"

 

"I'm saying I've always wanted a family with you, Harry. I just didn't know I had one. I thought we were going to move to the states and get married and adopt. I didn't think I was strong enough to help you produce a natural wizarding-child. Do you know how rare that is? How powerful the parents have to be?"

 

"I read through the pamphlets enough times, thanks."

 

"I just want-"

 

"You want to be a part of James' life. I get that and it's okay. That's fine, but you have a job that you love. I _know_ you love it. Millions of fans. You don't have time right now to help raise a child..."

 

"That's not all I want and you know it." Draco stood straight up again. Vulnerable or not, he was angry now which meant he was going on offense.

 

"I know it isn't, but I'm not on the table. _We're_ not," the ravenette said motioning between the two of them.

 

"Harry-" The blonde was bristling more and more with every word.

 

"I just don't think we should. We're not the same people we were before. We shouldn't just force this."

 

"I **want** this."

 

"Draco you don't know what you want. I caught you off guard or you feel guilty for leaving before...I don't know, but you don't want this. You want to be a famous musician and I want that for you. You're good at it. You're a bloody role model. You were able to move on," Harry said motioning to the series of tattoo designs the blonde had wrapping around his red, faded dark mark. "That would have never happened before. I'm glad that you're okay..."

 

"Were you ever going to- I mean, if I had never shown up here, would you have ever told me about him- about James?"

Harry moved to walk out of the door.

 

"Draco, you should go."

 

"Answer me, Potter."

 

"No. I wasn't going to tell you. I didn't want you to feel guilty for something that was my fault." When he was done speaking the man left the blonde in shock before going downstairs and saying goodnight to all the guests as they headed to their own homes.

Draco went downstairs to see that everyone else had gone home and Harry and the boys were loudly discussing how exciting the night had been in the kitchen. The pale man placed his hand on the door, but before he could get out there was a small voice behind him.

 

"Are you leaving already, Dad?"

 

His eyes grew for a moment before he turned around and took in James, still wearing the outfit he had bought for him even though his hair had reverted to an even messier state of Potter-ness.

 

"Yeah, bud, I have some other things to do. Just wanted to come and celebrate with you."

 

"Really?"

 

"Of course." He got down on eye level with his son before running a hand through the boy's familiar hair. "I'll be back tomorrow. I promise, okay?" The boy nodded and he smiled back. "Happy birthday, James Lucius. I love you."

 

"I love you too," James said excitedly with Harry's signature lopsided grin.

 

"Let your father know for me, yeah?" Draco ruffled the boy's hair fondly once more before kissing him on the forehead then turning and walking out of the house. He was down the street at an apparation point before he could think better of it.


	7. - g -

"James Lucius!" yelled Harry rushing from the kitchen with Teddy on his heels to find a crying but grinning boy standing there. The man tilted his head to the side and took in the look of his son with a sort of sad happiness.

"I'm fine, Dad. He said he'd be back tomorrow, but I don't know why he left me again."

 

"James, it's not like that."

 

"He said he loves me, but he doesn't really mean it does he, dad? I mean, if he loved us he wouldn't have left." He looked up his dad before looking down lost. The hazel-eyed boy shook his head and ran up the stairs to his room. He only stepped back down for a moment to thank his dad for the 'best birthday ever' then he stomped back to bed.

Harry stood in awe before remembering Teddy was there too. Slowly he walked the boy up the stairs to his room. He changed into his pajamas and slid into his covers. The dark haired man started to sit on the edge of the bed, but the young Lupin kicked him off.

"I'm okay, Dad. I promise, go check on Jamesie." Teddy smiled and rolled over before tucking himself further into his blanket. "He needs you right now."

 

"Are you sure you aren't really Moony in disguise?" asked the man jokingly while ruffling his godson's hair fondly. "When did you get so smart?"

 

"I think it's just a gift," the boy said sending the man a wide grin before breaking into a yawn. He rolled back over and Harry stood after patting him on the head.

"Night, pup." He walked solemnly towards James' room and knocked before pushing open the slightly cracked door anyway. "Hey, Jamesie. How're you feeling?"

 

"Okay." The boy turned over until he was facing the wall away from his dad.

 

"James-"

 

"I just- Why doesn't he want me, dad? Did I do something wrong? I can do better!" The boy turned back over and sat up on his knees with a determined look in his eyes as tears flowed freely down his face. Harry pulled his son onto his lap for a hug as he made himself comfortable on the young boys bed.

 

"Oh no, Jamesie, this is all my fault." Harry looked down at his son. "Would you like me to tell you a story?"

 

"I guess..." spoke up the tiny voice followed soon by a sniffle. Harry smiled small to himself as the boy snuggled deeper onto his father.

 

"Once upon a time there was a lion and a snake. As Unconventional as it was, they loved each other very much. Well- the snake, with it's silver scales decided that he wanted to be famous. The messy haired lion knew he would do anything for the snake and agreed. After a while the snake got his big break. The couple was was going to move to america!"

 

"Wow, Dad, that's really far. Did they ever make it?" James had stopped crying but he was still red faced and sniffling a bit.

 

"The snake did. You see, the lion had just found out he was having a little cub. He thought it would be better to raise him away from all of the lights and keep him safe so he never told the snake. The funny thing is the cub grew up loving the snake anyway."

James narrowed his eyes at his father.

 

"That's me, isn't it? The little cub?"

 

Harry nodded at him then laid a kiss to his forehead before forcing the boy to look him in the eye.

"Your father didn't leave because of you. I never got a chance to tell him about you. I never tried. That isn't his fault, it's mine. Okay? So don't think he doesn't love you, because he wouldn't have told you that if he didn't. You shouldn't stay angry, it's not good for you, but if you want to be upset you should be mad at me."

 

"I'm not angry, dad," said James sadly looking down at his hands that were entertwined in his lap as he kept his ear pressed to his father's chest. "I just don't get it."

 

"Get what?"

 

"Why you never told _me_." The not looked up at his father just as another tear slipped and dribbled down his cheek. Harry swiped the tear with his thumb before pulling the boy in tighter for a hug.

 

"I'm so sorry, Jamesie."

 

At the sound of his father's sincere voice he melted into the hug. He knew better than to ask questions about whether they would all live together or whether Dad knew that DL Black was currently dating another singer. He didn't think it would matter because Dad was dating that nice muggle woman.

He was used to not saying things like that. During the first few weeks of school, back when he went to a muggle elementary school. The kids would always ask about his mom. He'd tell them that he didn't have one

 

Then they'd ask what happened to her.

 

He'd tell them he'd never had a mom.

 

Then they'd say that's a lie and he must be stupid because everyone had a mom.

 

He'd say no it's not cause his Dad was like his mom and he had the pictures to prove it.

 

Even with the photographic evidence, the kids insisted he was lying and the teacher told him to stop disrupting the class with tall tales.

After first grade he stopped explaining. By third grade he was enrolled in Dumbledore Primary Wizard Academy. He was glad his dad understood him.

"It's okay," he said backing away from the embrace, finally. He looked up at his dad and grinned before it broke into a wide yawn. He slid off of his father's lap until he was back on the bed comfortably. He blinked his eyes closed slowly. "I'm okay now, dad. I promise."

 

"I'm sure you are, **JL** ," spoke the older Potter with a smirk. He slid off the bed and placed another kiss on his son's forehead before turning and walking out of the room. He cut off the lights with a quick nox, but a moment later a small glittering ball of golden light flapped it's way through the room. He shook his head.

He wondered when the boy would outgrow the snitch nightlight, but smiled to himself when he realized he didn't think he would.


	8. - h -

At precisely 8am the following morning Harry heard two distinctive noises. One was the insistent ringing of his wand notifying him of a call, the other was the obnoxious sound of his doorbell. He stuffed his wand under his pillow and rolled over under the blanket.

The buzzer went off again and he growled a little in his throat before tossing off the cover, pulling on a tee shirt and heading to the door.

He made it down the stairs mostly in one piece. He was rubbing at his eyes with one hand as he yanked open the door with a tirade already falling from his lips before he was finally able to open his eyes and see properly.

"'Mione, I told you the last time you tried to get me to come with you to the damn meeting I don't have a proper sitter. Not to mention it's eight in the bloody morning why not schedule these things for-" He blinked a few times. "You aren't Hermione."

Draco Malfoy was standing at his door looking a mix of nervous and annoyed, wand still ringing in one hand while the other was outstretched towards the vicious doorbell.

"No, I don't suppose I am." Though he looked down at himself as he dropped his hands, like Harry's words would make it so anyway. Harry pinched the bridge of his own nose before opening the door wider for the blonde to enter his home. He started making his way towards the kitchen to fix some coffee, confident that the other man was right behind him.

After sitting at the kitchen island in silence he ran a hand through his hair and looked at the other man again.

"Why are you here, Malfoy? You probably didn't know, but weekends are when I get a chance to sleep in." He was talking with his head in his hands, trying to wipe the tiredness away from his face.

"I was free this morning. I have a benefit show later this afternoon and I thought I could come see you, James and Teddy. I wanted to go out and do something." He spoke like a child himself, excited to have someone to play with during all his free time. Harry sighed as he stood to pour them some coffee. He didn't think it would help, but it gave him something to do.

"It's 8 in the morning. On a Saturday. What exactly are you trying to do? Everyone with an ounce of sense is still sleeping!"

 

This seemed to deflate the other man a bit.

 

"You're such a buzzkill," pouted the blonde.

 

"Yeah," snapped Harry. "It's called parenting, ya know, responsibility? But then again, you wouldn't know anything about that!" Harry quickly shut his mouth at the same time Draco, who was about to protest, did. The darker man took a sip of his coffee then a few deep breaths. "Look, Draco, that was uncalled for. I'm sorry." He inhaled deep again before exhaling and speaking partially through clenched teeth."What exactly are you planning to do this early on the weekend?"

 

Draco shrugged, properly told off.

 

"Maybe just going to the park. I don't really know. I just wanted to see all of you again. Before last night, I hadn't seen anyone familiar in what felt like forever. Mother comes to visit me sometimes, but it costs so much for an international floo call and she won't let me pay for it..."

 

The blonde stood abruptly with his long forgotten Malfoy mask sliding brokenly into place. He hasn't had to use it in so long. He turned away from Harry when the ravenette wouldn't let him avoid his gaze. "Actually, I should go see Mother. She should be up for tea, don't you think?" He was talking over himself and Harry chuckled.

"Draco, sit down. I don't mind you being here. I'm glad you want to spend time with Jamesie, but it- you know what? Okay. You go wake them both up and it's _your_ day." Harry stood up and put his mug into the sink before grabbing a spatula and pushing it into the taller man's hands and against his chest. "That includes breakfast. I'm going back to bed. Wake me up when it's time to go out on this little 'family-fun-day' or whatever the hell you want to call it."

Draco sat sputtering while Harry only patted him fondly on the shoulder then made his way back upstairs and into his bed.

 

"Potter, you great ponce!"

 

Halfway up the staircase Harry opened his mouth and shut it quickly when he realized his natural response was to say _Love You too_. Glad that the blonde couldn't see him from the kitchen he jogged up the rest of the steps and slammed his door quickly. He peeled his shirt off and fell face first into the bed. The ravenette was asleep so quick he didn't even remember the slip up by the time James finally hopped on his bed for breakfast.

"Dad! Guess what, guess what, guess _**what**_!" James was bouncing on the bed with a huge grin. Harry sat up, a little better rested, before placing a hand on his son's shoulder. When he opened his eyes James was trying his hardest not to bounce and let out more loose flour from his ruffled hair.

"What, Jamesie?" asked Harry with a smile tugging at the sides of his lips.

 

"It's JL, remember," groaned James.

 

"Of course it is," placated Harry. "So what am I guessing for, JL?"

 

"Breakfast."

 

"I have to guess for my breakfast? I think it's too late, James. It looks like you're kind of wearing my breakfast," said the man fondly while brushing more flour from the boy's hair.

 

" _Da~d_ ," he whined. "I'm not wearing it I helped make it. Just come see!" He climbed off of the tall bed then grabbed his father's hand to urge him out of the bed as well. Harry tried to push his son out of the room so he could find a shirt before heading back into the kitchen where he knew Draco would be standing in all his proud, blonde glory.

There was another insistent tug of his hand and he looked down at James' excitement before forgetting the shirt completely and following his son down the stairs towards a destroyed kitchen and two excitable blondes.

Harry shook his head, but he couldn't help the smile that stretched across his face as he stepped through the threshold to the mess on the other side.


	9. - i -

Harry looked around before moving his hand in a sweeping motion. It was the only wandless spell he had perfected so far and of course it was a cleaning charm. He grabbed the orange juice from the fridge and sat at the table while Draco and the boys carried the food from the counter.

Once everyone was seated Harry also sent a cleaning spell to rid his kids and guest of the flour that seemed to be covering all three of them.

 

"So," Teddy piped up as they all began placing food on their own plates. "Draco here is my cousin?"

 

"Yes..." said Draco in the form of a partial question, but Harry seemed more interested in seeing how much bacon he could take without putting anyone else off.

 

"But he's also James' dad?" This time Harry made an affirmative noise. "Does that make him my dad too?"

 

"Teddy you know who your father is," Harry said softly. Whether he was trying to stop and argument or stop himself from breaking down, Draco wasn't sure.

 

"Well yeah, I know who my biological father is, sure, but you're my dad now, right? So does that make him my dad too?"

 

Harry thought about it for a moment while Draco sat to the side looking on at the conversation that Potter seemed to think was perfectly normal. When he looked directly across the table he caught a pair of hazel eyes watching him before James spoke up.

"You have my nose!" said the boy in surprise.

 

"I do not," said Draco offended. "You have _my_ nose!"

 

"You have his ears as well," Harry said to his son while chewing on a piece of toast lazily. He pointed the similarity out with the crispy bread that wasn't in his mouth. "They're sharper at the tips like his are."

 

"I think you're right, dad!" gasped James as he moved up so that his knees were in the chair instead of his bottom. He reached across the table and poked at the pale man's nose, before flopping back into his sit with a final: "wicked."

 

"James don't touch people's faces," Harry said while tucking back into his food. "And Teddy, if you want to call Draco your dad too you can talk to him about it. Doesn't bother me." He shrugged.

 

"So is there a park or something around here? Somewhere we can go and hang out?" Draco said quickly changing the subject. He told Harry he wanted to be a part of this, but he hadn't realized how easy it would be to fall into a domesticated life with the bespectacled man.

"There's a nice park about a block or two away from here. It's a halfa-park." Half wizard, half muggle," Harry explained. "The wizard side is hidden with a strong disillusionment charm and a few muggle repelling ones too I think. 'Mione helped me find it so she explained a lot of the charm work to me."

 

"That seems like a pretty good idea, I mean, all things considered. I may be recognized wherever we go, but it _would_ be nice to be able to hide from the more eccentric muggles."

 

The kids were bouncing in their seats at the possibility of going out with not only their dad, who was off work for the weekend, but also one of their favorite stars magical or otherwise.

"Finish your breakfast first, you two," Harry said looking at each boy in turn. They nodded and hurried to finish their food while smiling at each other through the rest of the meal. Once the boys had cleared away from the table they raced back upstairs towards their rooms to get bathed and changed. "You too," Harry said pointedly to Draco as he stood up and set a spell to wash the dishes out of the sink.

"Yes, father," Draco said with a snort. Once the blonde had finished eating he stood and cleaned his area before helping Harry fix up the parts of the kitchen a cleaning charm just wouldn't help anymore.

 

"You got a lot better with the cooking," Harry said with an easy grin in the direction of his ex. "Our kitchen used to look a lot worse than this. Easily."

 

"I mean, you got good at all of this other _stuff_ ," replied the lean man as he motioned around himself to encompass pretty much everything.

 

"You mean, falling back down to my muggle roots or something," the darker man said jokingly as he stood up straighter from sweeping the crumbs and dirt into a dust pan. Draco shook his head, letting a few blonde strands fall into his face.

 

"No, I mean the whole parenting, and responsibility thing." He looked at Harry with narrowed eyes very seriously. "How did you do it? We had been together for years, Harry, and I just left. I was only thinking about me. I was always only thinking about myself. You didn't. Merlin knows you deserve to more than anyone, yet you decided you could do this. You could take care of another person."

 

"It just sort of happened. Just like how you came in for his party last night and decided you could waste 10,000 galleons on a new set of robes for 'Potter's kid.' What kind of kid even wears designer robes?"

The grey eyed man stood a bit taller while brushing extra dirt off of himself.

 

"Well mine does, of course."

 

Harry gave a lopsided smile before they both burst into laughter.

 

"Okay, let's finish getting this place cleaned up so we can-"

 

He was cut off by the shrill sound of his mobile.

 

"You have a mobile? I could have just texted you! Not that you would have seen it until this afternoon."

 

"Shhhh," Harry laid a finger to his own lips. He looked at the caller ID and answered with a smile. "Hey Val! Yeah, the doors always open for you." Harry turned away from the blonde as he began wiping off another cabinet and jovially speaking on the phone. "Oh no, a friend of mine stopped for breakfast and he's helping me clean up a bit."

 

Draco arched an eyebrow in the darker man's direction although he wasn't even looking anywhere near him.

"Yeah, okay. See ya in five then."

 

Harry turned around smiling before hanging the phone up and tossing it back onto the counter. They worked in silence until there were three quick knocks and someone entered the house.


	10. - j -

  
"Knock,knock!" called out a sweet, slightly raspy, but very female voice. Harry rushed to meet the person and Draco slowly followed, trying not to draw too much attention to himself. When he came around the corner he saw a beautiful woman.

She had warm brown skin with long straight, dark brown hair. She was tall and curvy, but also had a very kind face. Huge brown, doe eyes, a button nose and plump pink lips sat on a freckle spattered face with no makeup to be found. She wore a loose tee with tight fitting jeans and a pair of stark white trainers.

It didn't take long for James and Teddy to come down the stairs only partially dressed rushing to give the woman a hug as well.

 

"Oh," she started with a grin. "Look at my boys!"

 

"Hey, Aunt Val," said Teddy with a smile. Draco noticed his hair stayed traitorously dark brown around this muggle woman and he scowled.

 

"Aunt Val, it was my birthday yesterday!" shouted James excitedly and she smiled at him.

 

"I know and I have a present for you, little one," she said while tapping a finger on the smallest Potter's nose.

 

"After he finishes getting dressed, of course," insisted Harry, pointedly looking at both boys. She sighed playfully and agreed. The boys ran up the stairs, tripping over each other. He leaned in as though he were going to kiss her cheek but he finally caught sight of the tall blonde standing awkwardly in his living room and turned her around abruptly to meet him.

 

"Oh yeah! I told you I had a friend over, right. Well, Val, This is Dra-er" he cleared his throat. "DL. This is DL Black. Er...and DL, this is my girlfriend, Valeria Cross."

Draco's mask was in place almost instantly, but he hid it behind another. The face of a showman. He smiled at her kindly and bowed a bit dramatically causing her to laugh.

 

"S'a pleasure, Ms. Cross."

 

"Yeah, of course! Call me Val, please." She held her hand out to shake his as she stepped closer, looking at him in awe. "The kids absolutely love your music." She turned to Harry. "Though, you never told me you knew DL Black, Hare."

 

"Yeah," Harry said shrugging and rubbing his neck awkwardly. "We went to school together and he had a bit of a break this weekend so he stopped by for breakfast. He thought it'd be cool to take the kids to the park or somethings. You know, catch up a bit."

 

"Don't take it personally," Draco said talking to Valeria but staring directly into the other man's eyes. "He has a tendency to leave out information he doesn't feel is important." Draco looked back down into her eyes with a smile. "We never really got on that well in school, if I'm being completely honest, but he did help me get my first gig."

 

"It didn't happen quite like that," Harry said with his cheeks darkening.

 

"He doesn't like to brag," Malfoy continued, still looking at Valeria. "But I owe him my life. The thing is, he's so bloody oblivious, I don't think he realizes how many people would stop the world from spinning if he'd only ask."

 

She looked both proud and surprised.

 

"Y-yeah. I've been trying to tell him just that." She backed away from the pale man only just now realizing she was still holding his hand. "I can give Jamesie his gift and just come back later. Let you two catch up."

 

"Oh no," said Draco with a smile. "I insist you come along. I should get to know all of the important people in Harry's life. I owe him at least that much."

 

When she walked out to gather James' gift from the car Harry spun to face Draco.

 

"I told you nothing could happen _here_." He motioned between himself and Draco. "But you go and get that damn jealous, abandoned look on your face anyway."

 

"I played nice, though didn't I? I didn't bloody hex her into oblivion or anything."

 

"Draco," said the messy haired man sternly.

 

"What, am I supposed to be sorry for still caring about you?" Draco responded angrily."This is my family. A family I just fucking found out I had, but I'm not supposed to feel like she's taking that away from me?"

 

"No!" whisper screamed Harry looking towards the stairs before his green eyes flashed back to the man in front of him. "Because she _isn't_. You can still be there for James and Teddy if you want, but she's a part of _my_ life now and you aren't going to change that."

 

"Oh no, of course not," agreed Draco. "Wouldn't want to anger the saviour he may bloody well destroy me."

 

"Will you let the damn saviour thing go already? That hasn't been me for years. You know that as good as anyone."

 

"Yeah, you're a big-bad-pediatric-healer now, right?" Draco rolled his eyes. "Saving the day in a different way doesn't mean you aren't a sodding saviour."

 

"It doesn't matter either way, Malfoy, 'cause we aren't talking about me! We're talking about you, because that's what it always comes down to, dun'nit? You and what _you_ want. Draco wants to be famous so we're gonna run away to America. Draco ran away so I have to go get him. Draco doesn't wanna hear what I have to say so I guess I'll just raise a child by my bloody self! I'm dating Valerie now, so you can either get over it or get out."

 

The blonde stepped back as though Harry had thrown a thousand hexes at him. He shook his head and looked to the floor in submission.

 

"I'm sorry," whispered the man.

 

"Excuse me?" said Harry astonished. Draco looked up into his eyes and the messy haired man realized with a start that the grey eyes were full of tears.

 

"I'm sorry. I- I never realized how much I made you hate me. I didn't know- fuck." He rubbed at his eyes in frustration. "I've always been shit at this. I just- I'm sorry, okay? I apologize, you didn't deserve any of that. You never deserved the shit I put you through, but you always dealt with it anyway. You shouldn't have had to."

 

He walked towards the door. When he opened it Valeria was standing there looking down at the present, smiling to herself with one hand reaching for the door knob and the other holding a wrapped gift for James. The love he saw on her face broke his heart even more. Draco was sure that Harry didn't need him no matter how much he wished he did.

He cleared his throat and she looked up into his slightly red, splotchy, tear stained face with concern. He had to hold back another sob.

 

"I actually won't be able to make it with you all to the park today. Something came up. Do enjoy yourself enough for the both of us." He brushed past her and almost ran down the sidewalk before being a good enough distance away where he could apparate without anyone seeing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i love sensitive/vulnerable draco & i love harry not putting up with his shit
> 
> i cried while writing this. mostly cause i had the next chapter already written to follow as a happy chapter at the park, but then this didnt end up being happy or park-y. lol.


	11. - k -

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> for future reference for the rest of this fic, her name is valeria not valerie. im just terrible at proofreading. thanks.

Valeria walked slowly into the house once Draco had left. She set James' gift on the side table beside the door before closing it behind her and looking to Harry for an explanation, but the darker man was pacing across the floor with his hands gripping his hair. He turned with alarming speed and moved towards the door. It was like he looked past her as his hand reached the door knob. She placed a slightly smaller hand on his forearm.

 

"He's gone, Hare."

 

It was if her voice shattered his thoughts. His eyes, no longer glazed over, snapped to her then to the present on the table. He tugged on an achingly authentic smile.

"You should take it up to him," he said as he picked up the admittedly heavy box and handed it to her.

"There was a celebrity crying on your porch. Something tells me you need me more than James needs a birthday present right now. " Harry chuckled though nothing was particularly funny.

"It's a long story," started the messy haired man as he scratched awkwardly at his neck. "I was going to tell you at some point, yeah, but not so soon. It's gonna make you view me a bit differently. I wasn't quite ready for that. I was kind of enjoying being normal."

 

"Look, I already assumed he was like a past boyfriend. If you're bi or something that wouldn't change my view of you. You can still enjoy being normal. I don't see-" She had stepped closer and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"I wish it were that simple seriously." He took a deep breath and smiled at her again. "You should really take James his gift first. I'll be...here." He moved back into the living room. As the muggle moved up the stairs he started taking the charms off of some of the pictures that stopped the wizarding photographs from moving and off of others that showed his pregnancy.

Val came back down the stairs with a soft smile as she turned towards the living room. Harry saw the moment where she started to become uneasy. She looked around him at the pictures and blinked a few times before her eyes focused back on him.

"Are those like the frames that can do- er- slideshows and stuff with your photos? Do you just leave them off all the time. I've never seen them move before and-" Harry shook his head at her until she stopped speaking mid sentence. "So how does it work?"

 

He shrugged. "Magic."

 

"Yeah," she chuckled while she sent him a thankful smile as if he were just joking around. "Magic."

 

"Magic," Harry said again quite seriously as he raised his wand and froze all the pictures mid-transitions. One picture of him with a baby James had stopped just as the boy had attempted to smile for the first time.

 

"Magic," but this time she spoke softly in awe. She moved into the room and started re-examine the pictures around the room that she had seen plenty of times in their frozen states over the past year that she had been dating the green eyed...magician(?) in front of her. She turned to him quickly and he unfroze the pictures again. "So what are you? Some kind of magician or something?"

 

"I'm a wizard," he laughed.

 

"A what?"

 

"A wizard."

 

"You mean like with potions and spells and brooms and- well everything?"

 

"Actually, I'm pretty rubbish at potions," he said awkwardly rubbing at the back of his neck. " Dra- I mean, DL, he used to be great at them. A sodding prodigy, I bet. He was gonna open an apothecary before the war mucked everything up." He sat on the couch as he thought back to that darker time even if only for a moment.

 

"You did that before. You were going to call him by something else. I kind of assumed DL Black was a stage name, I mean, what kind of name is that any-wait the war? What war?" She sat down next to him softly, laying a hand on his knee. His head snapped up to stare into her face as if he had forgotten she was there while he reminisced.

"Oh, it's a long story, but the short version is there was a war while we were in school. I don't really like to talk about it. It was mostly a battle for magic and power, muggles wouldn't have noticed anything but maybe some off the wall weather."

 

"Muggles...?"

 

"Uh- people without magic." He thought for a minute. "Do you remember when the bridges collapsed?"

 

"Yeah, of course. The Millennium and the Brockdale, I think, right? Yeah, it was a suspension issue. My teacher talked about it for ages during second form."

 

"No, it was an assault. Our minister was asked to step down or risk the lives of muggles. He refused to step down. That was one of the first attacks to start the war." He shrugged sadly then shook his head as though to clear it.

 

"So this war-" Valeria was closer now, running fingers through his hair the way she knew he liked.

"I seriously don't want to talk about it." He placed his head on his knees, but allowed her to continue her ministrations.

 

"You brought it up, Hare," she said softly.

 

"Because as much as I hate it..." he took a deep inhale before slowly exhaling. "It's a part of who I am. I can't pretend it never happened, but sometimes-not all the time- I just really wish it hadn't. So many people died. And it's my fault. If I'd-" He was crying now. There was a knock on the door that seemed much louder in the terrible silence.

Valeria stood to answer it. When she opened it, Draco stood there with his head down, but his arms crossed. He didn't look up until he spoke, but he still looked absolutely wrecked, himself. He held his head high with an almost perfect sneer.

"Why do I feel like Potter is swimming in a pool of self pity?"

 

"Git!" yelled Harry thickly from the couch.

 

"Yeah, I know," Draco said with a small wet smile as he motioned for Val to let him in as more of a question. He whispered in her ear as he passed. "It's like a sixth sense."

 

She watched him confusedly as he brushed past her and headed towards the darker man on the couch. He had just left crying not too long ago, but here he was when the ravenette needed him the most. Val wondered if that's how it had always been between them.

It only took seconds for the elegant blonde to lower himself gracefully onto Harry's lumpy secondhand couch and reach a hand out to run through the dark messy strands as if that was where he had always been. She tried to muster up the anger to be jealous, but she just couldn't. Harry needed this right now, and she knew it. Someone who understood exactly what he was going through without needing to use words.

She came closer but sat across from them in an armchair near the fireplace and she watched the two interact silently for a moment before clearing her throat. Harry looked up at her surprised and then playfully shoved the blonde away with a small wet smile of thanks.

"It was bad," he finally said looking up at her, before letting his head droop down again. "And for the most part it was my fault. I feel like it always is."

 

It was Draco's turn to shove at him.

 

"It wasn't your fault. Never has been. Vold-The Dark Lord was a maniac. That wasn't your fault."

 

"Your father liked to think so."

 

"My father also liked to think I was straight. He has a tendency of being wrong."

 

"You thought so too," Harry said quieter.

 

"I am my father's son," Draco shrugged.

 

"Am I missing something again?" asked Valeria, looking between the two.

 

"We were on opposite sides of the war," said Draco looking away before pinning his eyes on hers proudly. "You are dating the saviour of the wizarding world, after all."

 

"Dray-"

 

"What? It was a compliment this time." His head snapped towards Harry. "Am I not supposed to mention it at all?" Harry rolled his eyes, but his cheeks were quickly darkening as the blood rushed to his face.

 

"S-so when you said you owe him your life-"

 

"Half the bloody population owe him their lives, but he saved me from a place I'd never thought I'd get away from. I owe him everything."


	12. - l -

As Harry and Draco took turns discussing the calmer parts of their schooling, Valeria took the chance to ask any questions she had about magic and how things worked.

 

"And your real name isn't DL Black, I'm assuming?" the woman spoke with a small smirk.

 

"Draco Lucius Malfoy at you're service," he said bowing his head and sticking his hand out before taking hers in his and kissing her knuckles softly.

 

"Though, he doesn't actually do much servicing," Harry piped up.

 

"If you can remember, I made breakfast this morning, you great lump!"

 

"What I remember is you making my kitchen a bloody mess this morning."

 

The two narrowed their eyes at each other before breaking into laughter and finally easing the tensions of war out of the air. Once they were all relaxed, the blonde stood yet again to take his leave. This time apologizing to Harry for his earlier behavior.

 

"You don't have anything to apologize for."

 

"I have a lot to apologize for. I can't even make up for half the shit I've done. We should all really do something tomorrow night before the tour starts back up."

 

"Or we could all go to the park like we had planned to do anyway," Harry said standing up now.

 

"No," the pale man said flatly standing up taller, but looking pointedly away from Harry.

 

"Why not?"

 

"I've already told you why. My stance hasn't changed. I just came back because I had gotten this feeling like you needed someone to tell you that you were wrong."

 

"Draco, don't make this a big deal."

 

"Harry, if you ever gave a damn about my feelings you would drop it."

 

"Good thing I never have a damn about your feelings." The messy haired man had his hands on his hips as he stared the blonde down. "Look- let's just go and have a good time. Just spend time together."

 

"What?" He snapped. "Like a family? Newsflash, Harry. We aren't one! I've only been here for a day and a half. She's great Potter, really. And you two seem to have it all under control."

 

"Seriously, Malfoy?"

 

"Don't 'seriously, Malfoy' me. I hate when you do that."

 

"I know you do, but I also know you're being ridiculous. She couldn't take your place. If anything, she'd be talking my place."

 

Draco couldn't help but laugh at the goofy look on the other man's face as he tried hysterically to wiggle his eyebrows. He sobered up his expression before shrugging his agreement.

"You're right. Though I would have to help her out, of course. Maybe this time we'll strike blonde. Mother would be so proud."

Harry looked between Val and Draco as if seriously considering before speaking.

 

"Or Weasley red," Harry snorted.

 

"Oh, father would be thrilled, I'm sure," the grey eyed man said dryly while his eyes shone with playfulness. Less than a minute later and both of their serious façades fell away to them being wrapped in a tunnel of laughter.

Valerie sat in her chair looking between the two men confusedly.

"I feel like I'm missing something again. What are we talking about exactly? And why does it involve me?"

 

"Babies," both Draco and Harry said at once before falling into laughter again. The taller man was covering his mouth as he snickered before bursting into twinkling laughter, while the ravenette was bent over guffawing, rubbing the tears from his eyes.

 

"What does that have to do with anything?"

 

They both immediately sobered up.

 

"You haven't told her," the blonde said backing towards the door in awe. He slid his wand from his sleeve and flicked it to call his coat from tossed across the arm of the couch. Harry caught it and glared at him pointedly.

 

"No magic in the house for things you can do yourself," he spoke as if chastising a child. "And I just hadn't gotten around to it."

 

"Around to what?" said Valerie standing up now, a bit angry as though she had been being picked on. "Told me what?"

 

"Why James doesn't have a mother." Harry inhaled deeply after he spoke. He exhaled heavily with his eyes closed before speaking again. "He never had one. James is my son."

She rolled her eyes at her boyfriend. Clearly being a wizard didn't make the man any more fluent with words.

 

"I know he's your son, Hare."

 

"No," the man said moving over to the mantle and handing her a picture of him when he was almost seven months pregnant. "He's my son."

 

"What he means to say is that he's our son," Draco provided still standing by the door.

She looked at the picture shocked. She lifted her head to look between the two men then back down at the picture in her hands before shaking her head and handing it back to the green eyed man in front of her.

 

"No, you're talking nonsense. You can't have been pregnant with James, I've seen your-" she blushed but shook her head again.

 

"It's huge, in'nit," the taller man asked from his side of the room with a wicked grin and Harry choked.

 

"Now is not the time, Malfoy," squeaked the embarrassed ravenette.

The git raised his eyebrows, then his hands in the universal sign for 'I-give-up'.

 

"How is that even possible?" Val asked looking back at the picture on the mantle again. Harry moved towards the bookshelf in the corner of his living room and started rummaging through a binder before pulling out different brochures.

 

"It's wizarding science mostly," he said handing a few of them to her. "I didn't understand too much of it. 'Mione did most of the research for me."

 

"I bet," she mumbled enraptured at the same time that Draco muttered: "Of course she did, it's Granger."

Once she had asked enough questions about the biology of it she looked at Draco again confused.

"So did you decide to split up after he got pregnant?"

 

"Something like that." He shrugged with his Malfoy nonchalance in place.

 

"So you just decided to leave him like that? How dare you-" She stepped up to him poking at his chest as she found the anger she needed to dislike this man as he stood there without a care in the world. She knew how precious Harry was, yet this man had just up and left him. His response wiped her anger away almost instantly.

 

"I didn't know he was pregnant. We had an argument and I left. I thought he was going to come after me, but when he never did I thought that meant he had gotten tired of me and was just too nice to say it to my face." He was looking down at his dragonhide boots now. "I thought he was glad that I was finally gone."

 

"When have I ever been too nice to tell you anything, ya prat?" Harry spoke up from beside Val, just in front of him, shoving his shoulder a little.

 

Val took a deep breath. Harry needed this. James needed this. Even Teddy needed this. She had to take care of her boys. She pasted on a smile and bent her head until she caught the taller blonde man's gaze.

"You guys should go ahead to the park, okay? I intruded on your day out. You all have a nice time. I'll be back later and we can all go out for dinner tomorrow."

 

"Val, you don't have to-" Draco and Harry both started before she cut them off.

 

"It's fine. I promise. I have to take in all of this my-boyfriend-is-a-wizard stuff anyway. I think I'm going to grab some take out and head home." She gave Harry a peck on the lips then Draco a kiss on the cheek. "See you later, Hare. And it was very nice meeting you, DL," she said with a wink in their direction before walking out of the house and closing the door behind her.

When Valerie made it to her car she took a deep breath as she sat in the drivers seat and laid her forehead gently against the steering wheel before finally starting up the car, backing out of the driveway and heading to the closest Thai place she could find.

Maybe there was some truth to eating your feelings.

 

"She seems sweet," Draco said before flopping back onto the lumpy couch he and Harry had chosen as the first piece of muggle furniture they were ever going to buy together. Harry nodded his agreement but sat down like a petulant little child. "What?" the blonde insisted.

 

"My prick isn't really that big."

 

"Seriously?" he scoffed. "You need to work on accepting compliments, oh great saviour."

Harry elbowed him playfully and he knew they were going to be okay.

At least for now.


	13. - m -

"Well," started Harry as he turned to the blonde man beside him. "To the park?"

 

"To the park," Draco agreed with a small smile that he covered by pinching the bridge of his nose in fake exasperation.

 

"C'mon boys!" called the darker man up the stairs while still watching Draco with that goofy grin on his face. "We're going to hang out at the park!"

 

The boys raced down, causing James to trip on the bottom step. Before his face hit the floor Draco reached his hand out and his magic caught the boy just in time. Harry looked at him with narrowed eyes as he stood the boy up and brushed James off.

 

"Oooh, you're in trouble now," whispered Teddy from beside the taller blonde before sliding as far from him as possible.

 

"What?" asked Draco confused before Harry turned to him.

 

"Boys, go wait outside. I need to talk to Draco for a minute." Once the boys had ran outside he started speaking. "What was that?"

 

"I stopped James from possibly breaking his nose?" Draco said more like a question than a response.

 

"No. You used magic f-"

 

"Well of course I did. We wouldn't have been able to reach him in time."

 

"So we let him fall," said Harry with his eyes closed.

 

"You do realize you aren't making sense, don't you?" Draco said raising an eyebrow while turning to face the man head on with his arms crossed.

 

"Draco, we were raised a lot differently, okay? I get that. I've been raising the James in a way that I think is the best way to combine muggle and magic."

 

"Is that it then? You were dropped on your head a lot as a child?"

 

"Can this not be an insult contest, Malfoy! I'm not trying to work through your loss of childhood or whatever. What I am saying is that you broke one of the only rules I have for wizards in this house. 'Don't use magic if you don't have to'. If we couldn't reach him its okay. He wasn't in imminent danger, he's eight! He's going to fall. He's going to get scrapes. I'm not going to raise him to not know what pain is or what it means to work for something. That would be wrong of me...wrong of us."

 

"What's wrong with him?" asked the blonde quietly.

 

"Nothing is wrong with him, but I want him to understand limits. We didn't when we were growing up. When he was four years old he started asking why he didn't have a mom. I explained as best I could then he asked where his dad was."

 

"What did you say?" Draco was whispering now. Where was he four years ago.

 

"I told him I didn't know. He asked me for two years where you were and I couldn't give him an answer. He cried for days, Malfoy. Days! Wanted me to bring you home with magic. I just couldn't do that. Wanted me to bring Teddy's parents back for Christmas one year. Said he wanted us all to celebrate like families do in the movies. I had to set limits. I'm glad you care about him enough to not want him to get hurt, but please refrain from unnecessary magic."

 

Draco nodded at the man he had known for so long- loved for so long- and how much he had matured. How much of that was because of him and he wasn't even here to see it happen. He couldn't help but smile sadly to himself as he followed Harry and they all made the trip down the block towards the park.

"Uh- Dad...?" James said as he turned to face the two men behind him and started walking backwards.

 

"Yes?" They both answered.

 

"Not you, Dad," said James exasperatedly towards Harry before pointing at Draco. "Him, Dad."

 

The pale man smiled at the boy.

"If it helps you can call me father or something equally boring." The boy laughed but nodded all the same.

 

"Well- uh- father?"

 

"JL," Draco responded with a chuckle.

 

"What's it like to travel all over the world? Dad says he used to travel all the time with my- well with you, I guess. He said you guys had been everywhere almost."

 

"It's pretty fun actually. Not as much fun when you don't have anyone there with you, but I do get to see the world and I always remember to take pictures."

 

Harry stopped short and everyone turned to look at him.

"Are you okay?" Draco asked concerned.

 

"You still take pictures?" Harry asked with wide eyes. The only reason the blonde had ever picked up a camera was because Harry had made him when they were dating. He had even talked Draco into labeling the pictures for future reference and scrapbooks.

 

"I filled about 4 scrapbooks," the paler man said with his nose upturned. "I had planned on sending them to you at some point, but I didn't know where you were so I decided against it after a while."

 

"Maybe you could show me in person sometime?"

 

"U-uh...yeah. Of course." The blonde blinked back surprised. Harry started walking again and left his exlover standing on the sidewalk trying to regain his composure as the blush slid from his neck up to his cheeks and the tips of his ears. The darker man turned back around with a grin.

 

"You coming, Malfoy?"

 

"Oh, sod off." Draco took a deep breath and steeled himself for the next conversation they were about to have as they crossed the barrier into the park. The boys ran off towards the muggle playground and they sat close on a park bench to watch. "So...tell me about Val."

 

"She's great!" Harry said, his face immediately lighting up. "She was a friend of a friend from work."

 

"You made it to St. Mungos, then? Not just healing from home?"

 

"Oh hush up. I'm a leader of Pediatric Healing." He looked proud of himself for once and Draco's heart stammered.

 

"I'm glad." Potter blushed and Draco nodded at him to continue.

 

"Well a friend of mine, Quinn, is a squib so she works as the wizard liason at the muggle hospital. She can recognize magic sicknesses and pull one of us in to specialize- anyway, I was on call one day and went to visit her. While I was waiting in her office Val came in looking for her too and we started talking while we waited. Got to know each other better. Went on a few dates." He shrugged with a sappy smile. "She's really great with James and Teddy."

 

"I could see that," Draco said quietly, looking down at his feet as he scuffed his boot lightly across the grass feeling smaller than ever.

 

"Draco don't be like tha-" Harry stopped abruptly as small boy ran up to them excitedly.

 

"HEY!" A child slightly younger than James stood in front of them gripping a blue cloud covered blanket tightly. "Y-you're DL Black, aren't you? My sister has your posters all over her wall!"

 

Draco's head snapped up and he had his star mask on again. Harry knew better than to think the blonde really felt better though.

 

"Yes, I am and what's your name, little one?"

 

"Andy," the boy said proudly puffing out his chest as kids sometimes do.

 

"So Andy, who's here with you?" asked Draco as he stood and started searching around before he saw a ruffled teen girl looking anxiously about the playground.

 

"My sister. She's waaaay over there," said the boy pointing just past the swing set where the girl had yet to see either of them.

 

"Well how about we return you to her, yeah?" Draco held out a hand and the young boy grabbed on tightly. Harry watched as they walked over to the girl. She looked relieved at her brother being safe before she finally looked up and noticed who it was that had brought him back to her. She screamed so loud that even Harry heard her.

While the blonde git was occupied the messy haired man had started taking in the others form. A body he had tried to forget for years prior. The elongated form and strict yet relaxed posture. The way he looked so fluid as he spoke or walked or danced or sang-

Harry looked up when he noticed that Draco was walking back in his direction then quickly looked away so as to not seem so conspicuous. The blonde sat next to him a lot more relaxed than before.

"See something you like, Potter?"

 

"I'm taken, Malfoy."

 

"That doesn't mean you can't admire beauty in it's true form."

 

"You're absolutely right."

 

"Seriously?" asked the blonde surprised again. Harry was never able to get him off his game this much before.

 

"Seriously," he said seriously before taking a pause for Draco to preen a bit before continuing. "...but all of my mirrors are at home."

 

"I hate you."

 

Harry smiled at the man who was currently trying his damnedests to ignore him while he pretended to pout. He sighed happily as he glanced over at the boys still playing then back at Draco who was pointedly still ignoring him. This was the same man he fell in love with, he realized with a start. New hair, new clothes, new marks, same Malfoy.

 

He looked away quickly after that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oh look, we're halfway there.


	14. - n -

Sunday morning found Draco sitting in the hotel at his table nibbling on a bagel while sipping on some fresh brewed coffee one of his guards got from a café down the block. The hotels idea of coffee was more like liquefied dragon dung.

He decided that yesterday wasn't a complete disaster, just before there was a loud bang from his door then a newspaper was slammed in front of him.

He looked up at his manager, Serafina's angered face. She was a squib, but she was still damn terrifying when she was upset. Draco decided to not look directly at her. Instead he glanced at the paper letting his stomach flop a few times before looking at her with a blank expression.

"Yes?" He asked as neutrally as possible.

 

"What's all this about?"

 

"I don't know what you're on about." He rolled his eyes and continued eating his breakfast.

 

"You're all _happy family_ with the saviour now? Look, the wizarding world is fine with this stuff and I couldn't give damn what you do in your personal life, but this affects your job. That in turn affects my job. You aren't just a wizard performer. Muggles have a problem with stuff like this!"

**_Voted by Witch Weekly for his fifth year and counting as the Sexiest Wizard Alive, DL Black (see Draco Malfoy: The Other Side by Rita Skeeter), was seen out and about muggle London with none other than our resident saviour, Harry Potter and company._ **

Just beneath the article was a picture of Harry and Draco having a good laugh while they sat on a bench at the park near Harry's house. They had sat on the wizarding side just for a moment, watching Teddy and James play a safer version of a seekers game.

"We were just catching up," he shrugged and moved the paper out of his way. Harry's baby daddy news had surprisingly not been common knowledge. "Not to mention muggles don't read the Daily Prophet."

 

"No," she agreed, "But they do have other ways of getting information and news, you know."

This time she handed him her ipad with a list of articles pulled up. Each got progressively more bold in their assumptions. The first few were showing Harry and himself smiling at each other and laughing. There were even a few pictures of him playing with James and Teddy, the latter having kept his hair that violent shade of Malfoy blonde. The hardest to look at was one of himself watching the kids while Harry was staring at him like he had hung the bloody stars. The titles ranged from _DL Black finds Love **Again**?_ to _The Secret Family of DL Black._

Each picture of him and Harry or him with the kids had been placed beside an upset picture of his press-only glamoured girlfriend, Pansy, who was more than happy to play the role.

It was barely a second before he had a wand call. Serafina rolled her eyes, but motioned him to go talk on the balcony. He answered with a soft chuckle knowing that it could only be Pansy.

"I've been told I should be heartbroken twice and someone gave me a rose and told me they were sorry. What've you done?"

 

"I went out with Potter and company, hear the papers tell it."

 

"Well did you go out with Potter and company?" she sounded as though she were idly picking at her nails.

 

"Yes, actually. I did. We only went to the park for Salazar's sake."

 

"The press has a way of reading into anything you do. You should know that by now, sweetie."

 

 

"It's just Potter!"

"Yes, I think that's the point." She got quiet for a moment before turning the conversation in a different direction not knowing it was in fact a bit worse. "Isn't his little boy adorable? Blaise and I ran into him a couple of months ago when we went shopping in this nice muggle neighborhood."

 

"Yeah," Draco said quietly. "Adorable."

 

"We asked who the mother was and do you know what Potter said? He said he carried him! I mean I knew Potter was powerful, but that was still unexpected. Then I asked who the other father was and he started blushing and muttered something about having to get going. I swear he has no-"

 

"He's mine," said Draco quickly and just as quietly as before, because Potter had told his own friends and he _had_ to tell someone. Pansy heard him this time.

 

"Excuse me?" said Pansy in an uncharacteristically quiet voice.

 

"Potter's son, James- James Lucius. He's mine, Pansy." He felt himself cry. Tears he didn't even know he had anymore. They shook him as a sob tore itself from his throat. "I didn't know, Pans. I was so busy trying to be famous that I- I just left him and- he had to go through it all by himself- Pansy, I didn't even _know_!"

Draco sat on the balcony in a crumpled heap with his forehead pressed against the glass pane of the railing. His wand disconnected and long forgotten next to him as he pulled at his hair in an attempt to ground himself and stop all that bloody crying.

Not even five minutes later there was a knock on the door. When Serafina opened it there was a heavily breathing Pansy and an annoyed only partially covered Blaise.

"You have an hour. He has a show tonight," said Serafina strictly as she left the room, her heels clacking loudly in the otherwise empty hallway. Once she was gone Blaise whistled appreciatively.

 

"I love a woman that knows what she wants."

 

"That's not what we're here for, Zabini," said Pansy walking towards the balcony and helping Draco up.

 

"I have no idea what we're here for. You kidnapped me from my bath and just stopped here," he said moving over to Draco's luggage. They were around the same sizes and he really needed to put on more than a towel.

 

"Draco's in shock. We're here to help him."

 

"Why?" asked Blaise, now fully dressed and fixing the cufflinks on the form fitting button up he wore.

 

"Because we're his friends?" snapped Pansy starting to get annoyed.

 

"That's never pushed you into helping him before. So what is actually going on here?" Blaise's voice sounded angry, but he had still moved to help her get Draco into a sitting position on the bed, but he backed away once the job was done and no one said anything. "He's not dead. No one is trying to hex him. And as far as I can tell he's sober. What the fuck is going on!?"

 

"You remember when we saw that kid with Potter?" Pansy asked slowly.

Blaise glanced between her and Draco confused but the blonde never looked up from the random spot in the floor he had been staring at.

"Yeah, cute kid."

 

"You remember how Potter didn't want to tell us who the other father was?"

 

"Yes, Pansy I remember the damn conver- oh. _Oh_!" The darker man turned to his blonde friend. "Never pegged you for the type to hit and run, Malfoy."

 

Draco looked sullenly up at Blaise. He looked so broken thst the smirk fell from the italian man face.

"I- I didn't know, Blaise."

 

"Oh, Dray," said the man, leaning in and running relaxing fingers through the pale man's hair at the same time that Pansy gripped him into a tight hug.

 

"The worst part is now he has a muggle girlfriend and they're so bloody happy together and it makes me _sick_. It's like they're this perfect little happy family. It's supposed to be _my_ happy little family. I mean, I'm glad he's so happy, I am, he deserves it. I just thought- Merlin, I don't know what I thought anymore."

 

They sat on the bed with him until he decided he felt at least bit better and he needed to get ready for his show. He wiped his face and stood up, stretching.

 

"A pureblood's work is never done, you know."

 

"Pureblood work my arse," muttered Blaise. "We know you have a show and we aren't leaving you. Come, Pansy, let's help him get ready."


	15. - o -

The newspaper laid between them on the coffee table and Harry stared at it confused for a long moment before looking away trying to figure out what they had been talking about. He was sure Val would laugh just as hard too if she had been there. If only he could _remember_. He searched the room in thought before stopping while staring just slightly above the mantle.

She had been the first to see the paper. The picture on the front was enough to stop her in her tracks as she walked to the café during a coffee run for lunch. The picture itself wasn't jaw dropping it perfect, but it was beautiful.

Harry and Draco were seated on a bench at the park. The blonde had his head thrown back, caught mid-laugh. The sun had caught Harry's face just right as he stared at the other man, a full spread smile across his face. The lines around his eyes weren't too pronounced yet, but it was clear he was elated. They were practically on opposite ends of the bench, they were so far apart, but they looked as though they couldn't have gotten closer if they tried.

The way her boyfriend was looking at the other man is what made her buy the paper. The headline was the reason she walked to the house they shared instead of back to work.

"I wonder sometimes, if you'll ever look at me like that," Valeria said softly in a hopeful voice. She spoke as it she wanted Harry to agree. Maybe let her know that he did. Tell her that he always had. Tell her that there was no way in hell he could look at anyone else like that.

Harry said nothing.

 

She looked down at the paper again.

 

"Harry...?"

 

The man in question looked up at his girlfriend, still in thought.

 

"Yeah?"

 

"You were doing it again," she looked in the direction he was staring (away from _that_ picture) as if something would appear there. "Is this some wizard thing I can't see-"

Harry looked confused before shaking his head and smiling at her. He stayed on the couch, but reached his hands out to grab ahold of hers. He leaned in and kissed the knuckles of both of her hands before looking into her eyes.

"Just thinking."

 

"About Draco?" Harry looked at her with a surprised smile.

 

"Yeah, how'd you know?"

 

"You were worrying at your bottom lip again." She pressed a thumb to his mouth before pulling the lip in question free from more torment. Harry's tongue came out in a quick flash of pink as he attempted to pull his lip back into his mouth. Their eyes met and she smiled softly at him. "You know you can just tell me to go, don't you?"

 

"Why would I do that..?"

 

"Well-" she tried to choose her words wisely, but there was no other way to say what needed to be said. She couldn't just act like everything was fine. She would get over it, ahe was sure of it. You clearly love him and-"

 

"I've always loved him. Probably always will. I don't see what that has to do with _us_ , though." The darker man had pulled her onto the couch with him and tugged her closer until she was snuggled against his neck and he was practically talking into her hair. He kissed the top of her head then her cheeks before relaxing both of them into the couch.

 

"Hare, you have to know that this isn't easy. Loving someone who isn't going to ever love me back fully?"

 

"I'm confused. I thought you loved me..." He sat back with an odd sort of thinking face before turning to her again. "Do you love Draco or something- Was this some sort of famous person fantasy-"

 

"No, Harry. I do love _you_ , but you love Draco. That much is obvious."

 

"So why does that mean I can't love you? I've dealt with how I felt for him for years, okay? It's not something that can go away, but it isn't something I plan on acting on either. Especially since I have you and I love _you_. Loving Draco is something that just is. I can't change it. I've made my peace with that and moved on."

Valeria pushed herself away and stood up with tears in her eyes.

"Hare, that's not love." She was looking him in the eyes now and it was hard for him to try and look away. Her gaze was unwavering even as her voice shook sadly. "You may love me- I'm sure you do, but this isn't how love works. You don't just love one person with all you are and give the rest to someone else. That isn't fair...not to yourself. Not to Draco. Not to me."

 

Harry stood up quickly, knocking over a few pictures on his side table when the couch shifted. He grabbed her hands but she snatched them away.

 

"No, Val, listen- I probably said that all wrong. I do love Draco, I'm not denying that, but I love you too. He was my first love! He's James' dad! Sure we left on pretty rough terms, but we both did what we thought was best, am I supposed to hate him?"

 

"Yes! No? Harry, I don't know, but-" she shook hair out of her face. She placed a kiss on the messy-haired man's cheek. "I can't just stand by and wait for the other shoe to drop. Wait for you to remember why you fell in love with him again. I'm all for this, okay? Once you figure out what's going on between you two."

 

She walked over to the door and opened it before laying her copy of the key of the table next to the door.

 

"Val, don't do this. I love you, please, just-"

 

"It's okay, Hare. I love you too." She sent him a small wet smile. "This is for the best." She shrugged. "I'll be around."

 

The sound of the door closing behind her sounded too final and Harry couldn't help but flop onto the lounge in defeat. His elbows rested on his knees while he let his head fall into his hands with a weighted sigh. Tears fell from his eyes silently and unannounced.

He understood why she left, but there were so many other reasons for her to stay...Reasons for them to get through this. The more he thought about it the angrier he got. He picked up the thing closest to him and tossed it at the wall, watching as the plastic television remote burst into bits of plastic and magic.

Teddy ran down the stairs first. When he saw his dad in tears he shushed James and turned so that they could both go back up to their room quietly.

"What's wrong with dad," James asked trying to force his way around his older brother.

 

"Nothing," Teddy said closing the door to their bedroom. "Let's play a game, okay?"

 

"I call first controller!"

 

Teddy laughed and agreed. He didn't know what had happened, but he knew Dad needed time and he was going to let him have it.


	16. - p -

Draco took a deep breath before stepping on stage. The change was almost instant. His posture relaxed, he could breathe again, and when he looked into the audience he saw the faces of people who wanted nothing more than to hear _him_ play _his_ music.

The crowd noticed him and broke out into hoots, hollers, and cheers.

He stepped up to the microphone slowly before reaching over his shoulder and tugging the strap so that his guitar laid the correct way across his front. He looked out into the crowd and he knew that he had to start the set off with something that actually meant something. He had to make a statement. Not for anyone else, but just for himself so he could accept what was going on in his own life. He took a deep breath, smile still intact. He let it out through his nose.

"This song goes out to anyone who has always wanted something but never quite knew how to get it. It's not an original, not one of mine at least, but I thought you all would appreciate me being personal up here on stage and- you'll understand."

 

 _I can't sleep, no, not like I used to_  
I can't breathe, in and out like I need to  
It's breaking ice now to make any movement  
What's your vice?  
You know that mine's the illusion

 _And all at once (_ _as I'm trying_ _)  
I can help you out (_ _just to get things right_ _)  
I'll be what you need_ _(_ _I'll kill myself to make everything perfect for you_ _)_  
I'll do anything  
Goodbye Apathy  
So long apathy

 

**\--:--**

 

When the final chord ended it was with a bit of twang that had some of the audience in tears. Others were in different states of awed silence before they all burst into hoots and applause and screams.

The rest of the set after that was more entertaining than emotional, though they weren't as tame either. When the show was over he bowed a few times before speaking.

"Thank you for coming out to the show! I would like to thank the venue for allowing us to perform and I would like to thank all of you for your continued support."

The crowd cheered again as he smiled and exited the stage.

When he stepped into the lounge back stage his wand starting to spark. He picked it up and answered without checking to see who had called in the first place.

"Er- hello?" said a thick voice on the other end.

 

"Yes?"

 

"I'm sorry, you're probably busy- I jus- I shouldn't have called."

 

"Harry?" Draco took a deep breath.

 

"Yeah...I'm s-"

 

"Stop apologizing. What's wrong?"

 

"Nothing's wrong."

There was a sniffle on the other end amd Draco rolled his eyes.

"So you cry every time you try to call me, then?" Draco said before thinking twice.

 

"I do actually."

 

"Fuck- Potter, I didn't mean-"

 

"I know. It's not you." He sniffled again. "Uh...Val broke up with me."

 

A small part of Draco's stomach flipped in joy at the news. The other part tired itself in knots because Harry was happy without him and in true Malfoy fashion he had to go and ruin it, even though he knew Harry didn't want any part of him.

What would he do in a day or so when he was out of town and back on tour? How would they work if Draco wasn't even around?

"What- uh...what happened, Harry?"

 

"She said she couldn't compete. That she shouldn't have to compete. That I should just love her with all I have, but I do love her..."

 

"Compete? Compete with who?" Draco smirked thinking he was about to learn some juicy news even Potter's friends didn't know yet. "Oi, Potter, you dog! Have another bird on the side? Never pegged you for the type."

 

"Because I'm not!"

 

"There is nothing wrong with having a nice polyamorous relationship."

 

"And you would know so much about that, would you?"

 

"Not particularly, but I'm just saying she shouldn't be upset about someone if you had already talked about it."

 

"We hadn't...Talked about it, I mean. I wasn't even seeing anyone else! That wasn't the problem."

 

"You just said that she didn't want to compete for your love. How woul-"

 

"She meant you! She didn't want to compete with you!"

 

It took less than five minutes for Draco to apparrate near the Potter's residence and storm up the stairs. He didn't bother knocking.

"What do you mean compete with me? We haven't been together in years. there shouldn't be anything to compete with. I hope you chased her down and told her how bizarre she was being."

 

Harry took a deep breath and looked away. The blonde shook his head. He knew that face.

"Draco, I-"

 

"No! We aren't doing this. You aren't going to say it. I'm not going to let you."

He turned away from the darker man, trying to look at anything else in the room.

"Dray-"

 

"It won't change anything!" the tall man snapped, turning around angrily as if to prove his point.

 

"So why won't you let me say it?" said the messier haired man letting his own anger get the best of him.

 

"Harry, think about what you're doing. I want to be here for James and Teddy, okay, but I'm on tour. That isn't going to change just because you say _that_."

 

"I don't care. I need to say it. When did you get so scared of-"

 

"Don't fucking say it, Potter."

 

"-love," the man said stubbornly. "When did you get so scared of _love_!?"

 

"I'm not bloody scared of it. I'm **terrified**! Of what it does to me. How it makes me feel." Draco shook his head.

 

"Draco, I never stopped loving you," Harry said with a shrug. There were still tears on his face, but he was too stubborn to let them stop him. "That's why Val broke up with me. She didn't want to compete with someone I've been in love with practically forever."

 

"You can't say that! Not now. How can you stand there after _years_ and say that to me and still make me feel-"

 

"It's because you love me too, you know. You always have. You never had to say it back, I could see it in your eyes."

Draco's eyes were huge and Harry chuckled and shrugged again.

"Well under the terror, I mean."

 

Draco looked at the man in front of him. The man he hadn't seen in almost a decade. The man he had been in love with for much longer than that. The man who was the father of his child. A man that was now single.

 

He took a moment then he turned and fled.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the song is "Goodbye, Apathy" by OneRepublic


	17. - q -

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> eh this chapter isn't my favorite tbh

Harry didn't hear from Draco after that.

 

Days passed and everyone adjusted.

 

The man was back on tour and tickets for his show were selling like hot cakes.

The dark haired man felt a twist in his gut that was all pain for all kinds of reasons. Sure he was proud of Draco. And if he was being honest with himself, he couldn't find a way to stay angry at him.

Sure the blonde left him (again), but he had told Harry that he wasn't ready this time. That he wanted to be there for the kids, but he wanted to keep making other people happy too. Harry couldn't fault him for that. He wasn't sure if he'd do the exact same thing, but he knows why Draco did.

Things were different this time. Val _and_ Draco had left, but he had been here before. Tired and alone. He shook his head and stood up from the side of the bed. He didn't need them. He knew how to take care of his boys on his own.

He checked the time before deciding to go ahead and take a shower before fixing breakfast. The boys were at Andromeda's house like they usually were during the weeks when Harry had to work early. Things were falling back into the normal routine.

He had only been dating Valeria for a year. Not much had changed. It had been nice waking up to someone else in the bed. Learning new things about someone other than himself. Spending time getting to know each other...slowly.

He sighed again as he peeled off his clothes and tossed them into the bin. He walked into the bathroom and turned on the water before turning to stare at himself in the mirror while the room around him filled with steam. He poked at his own abdomen. He wasn't too toned, but there wasn't an ungodly amount of fat pooling around that region. He could still faintly see the stretch marks from carrying James.

That was eight years ago. Eight! And he could still remember every detail vividly as if he had just given birth the previous morning. He remembered how much press there had been. How many people stood outside of St. Mungos Pregnancy Ward with cameras and notepads full of blank of parchment and quick-quote-quills hoping to get a peek at one of the first male pregnancies of the decade.

After Harry of course, it had become quite a trend again. He insisted it wasn't a purposeful pregnancy, though that only served to make it worse once he started working at St. Mungos as a Pediatric Healer. It wasn't that he didn't like the fact that he gave people hope, he just didn't like how often they wanted to stop and talk about it.

 _"Oh, Healer Potter,"_ he can still hear one father calling. _"My husband and I have been trying to conceive and everyone kept turning us away because they thought the risks were too great, but after you did it- well- I just wanted to say thank you!"_

 

Fine, it wasn't their fault that Draco had left him to go through the pregnancy alone, but they all seemed so happy about the process, because they had each other meanwhile Harry had-

He stepped into the shower mid-thought, the stream of hot water shooing the rest of it from his mind.

Work in an hour meant that the dark haired man was going to be rushing through a plate of eggs and maybe a slice of toast before flooing over to the hospital. Not to mention, it was Wednesday, which meant Teddy had soccer practice after school, which also meant the boys were coming home tonight. The shower became much less relaxing.

It wasn't long before he was stepping out again and hurrying through his breakfast.

From what he remembered of the weekend, walking into St. Mungos' Pediatric Ward was like walking into a concert hall during a performance. The waiting room was packed, there were pregnant women and men standing around the nurses station pointing and yelling and shoving and-

Harry rubbed his temple before taking a sip of his coffee and walking over to the desk. He sat his mug behind the counter and put a few wordless protective charms over it before stuffing his wand back into his lab coat. He picked up a clipboard and looked over the information.

He called back his first patient of the day. The little girl waddled over to him happily giggling and gurgling up at him with her mother close behind. He got down on her level for a moment.

"Hello, Sophia. How are you today? Feeling better than last week?" He looked up at the mom when he started directing his questions and began standing once she started answering.

 

"That's why we're here to see you, Healer Potter." The mother shook her head as she picked up her daughter and followed him towards an examination room. "You can see that the spots have gone away, but she's still been coughing up green fizzing bubbles."

 

Harry nodded as he took notes on the clipboard. He paced over to her and started scanning the little girl with a few check up spells. Almost immediately the little girl sneezed and a purple glob of snot landed on the wall behind Harry. A quick scourgify got rid of it and he chuckled.

"Sophia will be fine, Mrs. Lumonga. It seems she's gotten into some Weasley brand Bertie Bott's."

 

The mother sighed tiredly. Harry continued the check up as normal making sure there really wasn't anything else wrong, when the door to the exam room burst open.

 

"Healer Potter!"

 

He looked up at the frantic tone to find Francis, a new intern who was still in the "awed" stage of meeting _The Harry Potter_. He sighed once he saw who it was and looked back down to continue his writing.

"If it's an incident at the front desk, I'll be there in a moment, Francis." She was always nervous about something. The pediatric ward had been a mess recently.

 

"Uh...well...There's a child on the phone and they keep asking for you. They're crying."

 

He looked up again and stared at her as she continued talking. He would get it, could he finish with his patient firs-

 

"They said to tell you it was Teddy...it's a bear I'm guessing, but-"

 

Harry stood and almost pushed her out the way as he rushed to the phone.

"Teddy?"

 

"D-dad, we didn't mean to," cried the boy through the reciever.

 

"What happened?" asked the older man, already preparing himself for the worst.

 

"Me and James were racing outside and we ran into this bigger kid and he's like 12- he's a squib -so he's still here, but he was mad cause he knew you were our dad and he thought we did it on purpose so he pushed James and I punched him but he wouldn't fight me, he kept hitting James and- he wouldn't let him get up dad. The nurse said that we need to come to St. Mungos but the school doesn't have transportation and we're suspended so someone has to come get us."

Harry was shocked. He moved his mouth a few times before he realized no words were coming out and shut it again .

"Wait- come to St. Mungos? Why?"

 

"Jamesie's leg is broken and the nurse said he might have some fractured ribs but she doesn't know the spells cause she's not that advanced. And I think my wrist is sprained, but what would a sprained wrist feel like? I mean, it's swollen..."

 

"Where's Hermione?"

 

"She has the day off."

 

"I can't come get you- I'm with a patient." Harry ran almost every possible scenario through his mind before shaking his head. "I'm going to make a few calls and have someone come get you, okay?"

 

"Okay."

 

"And Teddy?"

 

"Yes, Dad," the boy spoke quietly as if he knew the trouble he was in.

 

"Thank you for standing up for your brother. I'm proud of you."


	18. - r -

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> again, i don't have a beta or anything. any mistakes are my own. if you see any, let me know :)

"Yeah, no...I understand Mr. Diez, I'll see if someone else could go pick them up. It's fine, really. Okay, thank you. Bye."

Harry hung up the phone again. He had called most of their neighbors and even a few other friends from the wizarding world. Everyone was busy. If he hadn't just gotten to work he would have went and got the boys himself.

He thought for a moment and sighed. The next number he punched in felt strange as he keyed in digits he hadn't gotten quite used to yet.

"This is DL," the voice said confidently and relaxed and Harry almost hung up.

 

"Uh- er- Draco, I need your help."

 

"Harry?" The confidence in the blonde's voice was gone just as quickly. "What's going on?"

 

"The boys are kind of stuck at school and they need to come to the hospital." Harry pushed the words out in a rush. "Do you know anyone who could-uh pick them up. Everyone I called was busy."

 

"I- er- uhm-" He started mumbling as he thought everything through. "Uh- well Pansy is at work, I think. Blaise is too probably. I wouldn't trust Theo or Millicent with kids..." After a moment Draco spoke up. "I could uh- I could call Mother."

 

Harry gulped at the implications that offer held, but he knew his boys came first. He nodded until he remembered Draco couldn't see him then he cleared his throat and agreed.

 

"Y-yeah. Okay, great. She can just- uh yeah. Alright."

 

"I'll call her now," Draco said before disconnecting the call and properly freaking out. Why did the boys have to go to St. Mungos? How serious was it that Harry called him for help? Was Harry even going to tell him otherwise..?

He took a deep breath. Harry didn't owe him any explanation. He balked at that thought. James was his, sure, but it wasn't his place to tell Harry how to raise him. Especially after he walked away. _Again_. He hit himself in the forehead and rubbed at his eyes.

How could he even do that? Harry had left himself wide open and he left the darker man there again, this time with two kids and no help- It wasn't like Harry was expecting grand things from him, all he needed to do was help with kids that were just as much his responsibility as they were Harry's.

Draco shook his head. Harry was always better at that, the ' _taking responsibility_ ' parts. Sure Draco could accept mistakes and work despite them, but Harry sodding Potter had a way of accepting his mistakes, taking full responsibility of them and working with them to fix whatever he had cocked up in the first place.

It was one reason Draco had fallen in love with the git.

He paced back and forth across his hotel room as the phone rang against his ear. He had taught his mother how to use one years ago. Even she found it much easier than floo or owl post. The call went to voicemail and he dialed again. Well when she actually _answered_ the bloody thing!

_Hello, this is Narcissa Malfoy nee Black's phone. I'm busy just now, but if you leave a message I'll return your gesture at my earliest convenience._

Draco rolled his eyes and dialed again. On the second ring she picked up.

"Bloody hell, Draco!" she yelped. "Who's dying?"

 

"No one, I don't think, but I have a huge favor to ask of you and I will explain it all later."

 

She sounded skeptical as she agreed, but agree she did.

"What exactly are you asking of me?"

 

"I need you to pick up two young boys from a partially muggle area and take them to St. Mungos."

 

"And why, may I ask, am I kidnapping children?" Draco could practically hear her eyebrow raise over the phone. He rolled his eyes.

 

"Mother, please! I will explain later." Draco was pleading now. He had to prove to Harry that he could help. Even on tour. Even if they weren't together. He could help provide and protect like he should be doing as a father.

 

"Fine," she said, but her voice was to calm and Draco knew that meant he was nowhere near being off the hook.

 

"Thank you," he said before adding, almost as an afterthought: "I'll send you the address to the school." He hung up but his mother had blanched on the other side.

 

_"School?!"_

 

**\--:--**

 

Narcissa Malfoy was more than a little confused as she walked into a small, modern, brick building. Her high heels clicked across the hard tiled floor as she marched towards a door with a main office sign on the small window.

She rang the bell twice then a third time when no one arrived. As she finally heard footsteps she straightened her perfect posture even more before placing a hand on the side of her head to make sure her hair was still pulled back into place.

The woman who came around the corner looked old, though happily so. She smiled and spoke to Narcissa as if she had no idea who she was. The younger woman couldn't help but smile back.

"Welcome to Merlin's Primary Wizard Academy. What can I help you with?"

 

"I'm Narcissa M- Black! Narcissa Black. I'm here to pick up two little boys..." Narcissa spoke precisely though she wasn't sure how to go about the situation. "They're supposed to be heading to St. Mungos. I'm their transportation."

 

The older witch nodded and began talking while leading Narcissa down a hallway towards the nurses station.

"Oh yes! Right this way, Ms. Black. Shame they're suspended, they were only having a bit of fun. And that boy- oooh." She shook her disappointedly while smacking her lips in annoyance. "His parents were a bloody handful too."

 

"I'm sure," said Narcissa lightly trying to keep the woman from asking too many questions.

 

"Sorry about this, we did fix them up the best we could. Nurse Clairmont doesn't have much magical prowess in this regard. She's only a fill-in, see? She did get the splints set nicely though."

 

Again Narcissa only smiled. The woman opened the door to what she assumed to be the nursing station without much preamble.

Before Narcissa could say anything two sets of eyes looked up at her and she froze. There wasn't a way she wouldn't know those kids.

"Hey!" croaked the smaller one holding his side. "I know you. You're in dad's picture album. He told us you saved his life."

 

"Yeah," agreed the older boy looking at her suspiciously and she was startled by how much he looked like Andromeda when he did that. "What're you doing here?"

 

She floundered for a moment before catching her composure.

 

"I'm here to take you both to St. Mungos." She gave them both a tentative smile and the younger one almost beamed as he tried to shimmy himself off of the nurses exam table, forcing the paper to crinkle way more than necessary.

 

"If I could get down," he started while still trying to figure out the best course of action. "-I'd say that'd be brilliant."

 

 _Oh, Draco..._ she thought while shaking her head. _What is going on here?_


	19. - s -

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> what's proofreading? don't know her.

The smaller boy kept staring at Narcissa as she walked them to the nearest apparation point.

 

"So, you saved my dad's life?"

 

"I just told a little white lie," she said still marching forward.

 

"You know, you look a lot like my other d-" she snapped her head around only to see Teddy with his hand over the other boy's mouth.

 

"What's your name, dear?" Her voice was soft, but even she knew her eyes looked huge and nervous.

 

"James Lucius, but I'm trying to get my dad to call me JL. He always calls me Jamesie, but that's a baby name. I'm eight," he said proudly. "I'm practically a teenager now!"

 

She felt shocked, but she tried to pull together a sense of composure as she stood and responded.

 

"Of course you are. You're practically an adult," she agreed while smiling and winking at Teddy who seemed to relax and smile back at her.

 

**\--:--**

 

St. Mungos was packed by the time they were able to actually make it to the Pediatric floor. As soon as they sat down in the waiting room there were a few whispers about why in the world Narcissa Malfoy was with the Potter boys. She walked over to the nurses station only to be stared at until Harry finally came out.

She assumed he heard the numerous questions and decided to see what was going on himself. When he saw her he couldn't stop blushing. It had been years since he had made any sort of contact with either of the Malfoys and he wasn't quite sure why anymore. He walked over to Narcissa quickly and nodded his head a little and grasping one of her hands in his own as a partial greeting.

"Thanks for picking them up on such short notice..." His voice faltered as he looked into her most eyes and strong willed face before rushing all of them into an exam room.

 

"Why didn't you owl me?" she asked Harry, though her eyes stayed on an occupied James who sat debating with Teddy.

 

" _He_ didn't even know until a few days ago." Harry was looking at his son too before looking away a bit guiltily. "I had found out before he left and then we got into that big argument...I didn't know what to do."

 

"He looks like you," she said smiling. "But he really looks like Draco too."

 

"Did you tell him who you were?"

 

"Of course not. I didn't want to over step my bounds."

 

"I don't think that's even possible. You saved my life. You're _family_."

 

Narcissa narrowed her eyes at him before turning back towards her first grandchild and taking a few miniscule steps forward. Once she was standing right in front of him the boy seemed to notice and looked up into her eyes. Her breath caught in her throat.

"James, this is Draco's mum. Narcissa, this is my son, James Lucius Sirius Malfoy-Potter."

 

She forced down a sob while forcing out a laugh.

 

"That's quite a mouthful, isn't it?" she asked the boy. He tilted his head in awe.

 

"Are you really my grandma?" James asked. She made a small affirmative noise and he launched himself at her in a huge hug, before he let go with his face scrunched up in pain. He made a few steps towards his dad with a puppy dog look on his face.

 

"No need to start whining, Jamesie. You two," he motioned towards Teddy and James. "Are here to get fixed up, remember?"

 

Harry waved his wand in more than a few intricate motions to reposition the bones correctly before pulling and pushing them back into place. He waved it again to call enough plaster and bandage to properly mold and cast for each of the boys. He paid careful attention to each strip of bandage and the amount of pressure he put on it.

Just as he was finishing there was a knock on his exam room door. The magic in the room automatically extended the walls to make the space bigger to accommodate more people. He stuck his wand into his lab coat's holster and pulled open the door to reveal...

"Draco?" Harry seemed more surprised than the blonde thought he had any right to be. The darker man turned around and surveyed the room before stepping out into the hallway. "What're you doing here? Your mother brought the boys. I thought you were touring again."

 

"Listen, Harry, I- I love you, okay? I don't think I ever really stopped." Draco had decided that if he were going to be a father it was about bloody time he started acting like one. All he ever did was run and expect other people to handle his problems. Not anymore. This was _his_ family and he was going to be a part of it. "I left because that's what I do when I don't know how to express my feelings-"

 

"I know."

 

"No, let me finish." He took a deep breath. "I called my label and talked to my manager and...the tour is on hold for a year. I told them it was a family emergency. I know you aren't looking for a relationship with me that way, but I would love to be in my family's life. It would mean the world to- _mmph_!"

 

He hadn't even noticed Harry getting closer until the messy haired man had pulled him into an earth-shattering kiss.

Their mouths fit perfectly together as Harry nipped and licked and sucked at Draco's lips.

He pulled back until their eyes met and Draco was searching his for an answer.

 

"We're yours."

 

Lips met again and the darker man stopped kissing him only to speak lowly, letting his breath fan across the other man's mouth.

"Me- I'm yours. I want you..." The man was almost pleading. Whether with himself or Draco he wasn't sure. Before the paler mam was able to react Harry had apparrated to his home. They fell into his bed and almost immediately he was sucking at Draco's neck.

 

"H-Harry, are you sure about this?"

 

The ravenette stopped then looked down at the pale adonis beneath him. He had taken no time in ripping a few buttons on the blonde's shirt as he had started straddling him.

 

"I haven't had time for anyone but Val in eight years and even then I knew something was missing..."

 

Draco shook his head.

"You said- you specifically told me that you- that we- were not on the table. Nonnegotiable."

 

"I was with Val."

 

"Even after Val."

 

"Draco, I know you, okay? I know what makes you tick. I just- I don't know. I wanted to make you feel how I felt, but then you left and I wanted you back. I wanted you more than I have ever wanted _anything_. I was just going to put up with it, but then I needed help with the boys. I needed someone. I needed _you_. And here you are."

 

"Here I am," he responded looking up into Harry's eyes then running his own eyes over the rest of the man. The length of his messy hair, the scar that had grown since he had last seen it, a new scar just above the other man's lip. Whore his eyes were busy mapping out the man's face his hands were busy making a catalogue of each ridge and dimple on his torso.

"I've kinda missed you, git," Harry said grinding down onto the blonde.

 

"Oh," he responded with a smirk. I hadn't noticed."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> who? why? where? when? what kids?
> 
> next chap is smut


	20. - t -

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> warning ⚠️ smut
> 
> its a short & goofy sex scene, but eh
> 
> if you skip this, im pretty sure you won't miss anything

They were laying in the bed in a position that neither one of them wanted to admit was all too loving for a pair of men who had only just decided this was for them, but the moment Harry's and Draco's mouths met again, the curtains may have burst into flames.

Draco wasn't quite sure because there was a very strong and sexy saviour lying next to him and creating a wonderful kind of friction.

Harry wasn't sure because well, he was the aforementioned strong and sexy saviour.

The flames seemed to match their heat for intensity. It started at the bottom where their toes were curling ever slowly together. It moved up to where their knees were interlocked but knocking against each other at every possibility. It stayed burning for a moment where their cocks brushed sending a fresh wave of heat to pool inside of them.

When they broke the kiss apart the messy haired man looked up to notice that _yes, his curtains were on fire._ He then proceeded fall off of the bed and force an aguamenti directly onto the disaster that used to be his window decor. Meanwhile Draco was having a laughing fit on the bed.

"Oh, sod off," Harry snapped as he pulled himself into a sitting position, but even he had a goofy grin on his face. The still giggling man leaned over and pecked his lovers lips. Harry climbed back onto the bed and hovered over Draco before moving in to kiss him again. He didn't put up a fight when the blonde finally flipped them over.

He tossed his head back onto the pillows as the man above him began kissing and nipping at his neck with fervor. He moved down his neck towards his chest where he sucked a pert nipple into his mouth, scraping it a bit with his teeth then swirling his tongue around it. When he felt he had given it enough attention, the thinner man moved on to the left one, his fingers still flicking at the right. Harry brought a hand up to grasp at Draco's before moving it south to rub at his hard-on. The blonde stroked him once, before he snatched his hand away, causing the even messier-haired man beneath him groan.

Draco chuckled, but continued marking a slow path downward with chaste kisses to his heated and toned body.

 

"Patience, Potter," he said, looking up through pale eyelashes and sending Harry a sly smirk before kissing his hipbone. Then another smirk before moving down. He licked a slow stripe up the inside of the darker man's thigh and grinned at the sharp intake of breath.

 

"You were-" he sucked in another breath as the blonde did it again and he raised himself onto his forearms to level Draco with that wonderful green-eyed, challenging stare. "-always such a tease, Malfoy."

 

"Hmm," hummed the blonde before placing a kiss on the head of Harry's prick. "Not always..." The darker man moaned wantonly as Draco took him into his mouth then pulled off almost just as suddenly. "But you're right, I'm just teasing."

 

At Harry's groan Draco moved up until he was dragging their leaking cocks together and whispering: "I want to be inside you when you come."

 

Harry let out a breath of air he hadn't noticed he'd been holding until Draco was kissing him again. Their tongues and lips moved in sync, giving just as much as getting.

 

"If you're going to say things like that you need to back them up, Malfoy," the darker man whispered back before taking Draco's bottom lip between his teeth.

 

"Does the no magic in the house rule apply to searching for the-"

 

"Top drawer on the side table," Harry said shooting that lopsided grin towards the man above him. Without taking his eyes off of the green-eyed wonder beneath him, he leaned over to the side table and started rummaging around until he found what he was looking for. He took his eyes off for a second and couldn't help but snort.

 

"Why do you have strawberry flavored lube? You're allergic to strawberries!"

 

The man beneath him raise himself back up onto his forearms, before snatching the tube away.

 

"I wanted to try it and I thought it would be artificially scented and stuff..." His cheeks were slowly getting darker and Draco couldn't help but laugh harder.

 

"Please tell me you didn't swell and break-out," he said through fits of laughter.

 

"For three weeks!" Harry yelped sadly when it seemed the pale musician would only keep laughing.

 

"Well," he snatched the tube back and returned it to the drawer. "Let's not have a repeat of that. I would actually like you to _enjoy_ our first fuck in 8 years." He looked into the drawer this time to see that Harry had an arrangement of lubes and oils in an array of different smells and purposes. When he looked back over his shoulder Harry shrugged.

 

"I prefer vanilla."

 

"Of course you do," Draco said with a soft smile, that forced the tiny dimple in his cheek to show and made Harry's heart beat even faster. It was a loving smile and that made both of their chests that much heavier with what they were about to do. Draco moved between the shorter man's legs and he gladly spread them a bit further while sending the blonde a coy little smile. He looked down and popped the cap on the vanilla lube (though he was in too much of a rush to really taste it from the other man's hole to be sure), before squirting a nice amount onto his fingers then warming it up a bit.

When he finally eased one finger into Harry, the man squeaked. He chuckled lowly before working him open further, adding another finger and another. He drizzled more lube onto his moving fingers causing a squelching sound as he pushed them in and out, adding little twisting and scissoring motions that made Harry whine and moan and _beg_.

When he finally pulled his fingers out they made the most delightfully lewd sound and he couldn't help but groan at the sight in front of him. Harry blinked a few times as if to clear the haze and looked up at him through his lashes before smirking.

Draco thought he looked adorable even if he were pushing 30 and he was laid there stark naked with his still aching cock leaking onto his abdomen. That face was making the blonde weak in his knees. He wasn't about to mess this man's life up, not again.

"Condoms?" he asked quietly, but Harry looked at him almost shocked and shook his head decidedly.

 

"I trust you."

 

"This isn't about trust, this is about being responsible for once in my damn life. I'm-" he blushed. "I'm already too close, and I am not about to get you pregnant right before I leave. I wouldn't do that to you. Not again."

 

"It wasn't your fault, Dray. None of this was. I'm out of condoms. If it means that much to you, do a protection charm, but if you don't, I still trust you to make the right decisions. Whatever happens."

 

They stared into each other's eyes for what felt like it could have been hours before Draco finally nodded solemnly and moved down to kiss the ravenette again.

He poured more lube onto his hands and rubbed it onto himself, stroking his own prick firmly. He lined himself up with Harry's hole and slowly but surely he was pushing himself into his tight heat.

Draco bit down on his lip to stop himself from letting out what he was sure was going to be a pathetic whimper. It had been years, he thought in awe as he slid into Harry over and over. He looked down and claimed the other man's mouth with his own.

"I'm not going to break, Draco," breathed Harry, pulling the blonde down do he could whisper in his ear. "Fuck me."

 

At the request the paler man pulled out before pushing back in at what soon became a brutal pace. Their bodies we slick with sweat and he watched in amazement as a bead of sweat rolled down the ravenette's forehead.

Without warning Harry's prick between them was twitching and spurting his thick release over both of their abdomens. He gasped out happily. His hole clenched around Draco and the blonde quickly pulled out, because within seconds the other man was falling off of the precipice of pleasure with him as he continued stroking himself above the darker man through his orgasm.

 

"Well, I guess you're still good for something," Harry said jokingly, looking up through his dark fringe with a lopsided and sated smile, covered in both of their cum.

 

"Oh budge over, you extra large gnome," Draco said as he flopped onto the bed next to the still smiling ravenette, even though he was just as giddy and well-fucked.

Everything was fine, thought each man in turn. Sure things were different now, but as they looked into each others eyes, they knew they could make it work.

 

They _would_ make it work.


	21. - u -

Harry was looking at him like he was the reason the sun rose in the morning before sitting up quicker than he had initially thought was possible for the darker man.

"You put your tour on hold for a year," he said. It wasn't a question. It was a fact, spoken in awe and reverence.

 

"I did," said Draco as he blushed almost immediately before nodding, because that much even he knew to be true. He had called Serafina and argued for ages before she agreed to let him do it. He knew he needed to do something. Harry didn't believe in words, he believed in people and actions and Draco knew him well enough to know he had to show the messy haired man that he meant to be there for his family. This was how he was going to do it.

 

"Merlin's left tit," Harry stood up from the bed wearing only his pants covered in small fluttering snitches. "You put your tour on hold for a year! You shouldn't have done that. You didn't _have_ to do that."

 

"I wanted to," he said shrugging. The darker man looked up at him with tears in his eyes.

 

"Y-you seriously did that for us?"

 

"Harry, you guys deserve the world, I just wish I would have been here sooner to give it to you..."

 

"I never asked you to do that," the ravenette said looking him directly in his eyes.

 

"You shouldn't have to."

 

At that the man sputtered, unable to think of an adequate response to his feelings. His mouth opened and closed a few times before Draco laughed and decided to go make them something to eat while Harry figured out how to use words again.

 

> **\--:--**

 

For the next few days it was odd having Draco in the house. Not a bad feeling, per say, just...different.

They slept together and ate breakfast together and when Harry took the boys to school, Draco would walk with them only slightly glamoured. While Harry was at work, the blonde would be home cleaning or cooking or handling business on the phone. And when Harry got home the pale man would smile and kiss him on the forehead because he had already went to get the boys from school and he was glad to see him.

Harry could admit that it was nice and it took a lot of the stress off and it was cute the way Draco tried to keep the boys calm by singing to them as he finished up paperwork in the home office. It was downright domestic.

And it made him livid.

Of course he loved the other man, practically always had, and there wasn't an active doubt that Draco loved him back. He loved the kids. What made Harry angry was the fact that it was so damn _**easy**_. He had lived without the famous git for almost nine years and the first week was one of the hardest of his life, that's including the time he spent searching for horcruxes, because even then at least he knew what he was up against. Alternatively the first week since Draco had come back was the easiest thing he had ever done and he didn't like that.

He hated how easy things were for that man. He hated how whatever he wanted to happen usually did. And he hated that this time he had let it. He knew it was uncalled for, but he couldn't help it. The anger was unfounded. There was no real reason for him to be upset, but when he walked into the house after work and saw Draco on the floor playing chess with the boys he growled then went straight to his bedroom, throwing the door shut behind him.

He heard someone's breath hitch and turned around just as James had started to cry. He opened the door only to see that he had mistakenly slammed his son's fingers in it. The boy looked up at him scared and his heart broke as he fell to his knees and grasped the heated hand, kissing the fingers softly. The boy was still in a leg cast for at least another day before the magic completely set his bones back and the ones on his ribs had only come off yesterday and already he was hurt again. And it was Harry's fault.

 

"Oh Merlin, Jamesie! I'm sorry. I am so _so_ sorry."

 

Within seconds Teddy and Draco were rushing up the stairs and Harry was whispering healing spells softly over his son's hand.

"Are you mad at me, Dad," the small boy sniffled, looking up at him with those big hazel eyes and he couldn't stand it.

 

"No, of course not, Jamesie. Why would I be- what would make you think I was mad at you?"

 

"'C-cause Teddy and m-me got in a fight a-and you haven't come to p-pick us up from school or c-come with us to Gam's house..."

 

"Oh, James. I've just been busy and I thought you might want to spend some time with your Father, yeah?"

 

"I-I do, but I want us all to spend t-time together. That's what real families d-do, right?"

 

"Well, all families are different, James Lucius," Draco said somewhat softly from behind him, smoothing the still sniffling boy's hair down. He did that a lot, calling him by his full name as if it still surprised him that Harry would do anything for him and that was part of what finally broke the ravenette's resolve.

 

"So does that m-mean Dad doesn't want to spend time with us anymore?" James was pouting now in a way Harry hadn't seen for years and his resolve had already been too weak. He just couldn't take it. He lifted the eight year old onto his back in a way he would most certainly regret later.

 

"Let's go out. Right now," Harry said to the group. "It is officially Movie Night. Where do you guys want to eat first?"

 

The blonde narrowed his eyes at the darker man but shrugged.

 

"Can we go to a magic restaurant?" Teddy asked excitedly bouncing on the balls of his feet as he followed the rest of the family downstairs to grab shoes and coats from near the door. Harry looked to the famous blonde with raised eyebrows, but Draco simply shrugged again before responding calmly.

 

"I don't see why not." There was even a small peaceful smile on his face as he said it before running a hand through Teddy's rapidly changing hair. It made Harry angry all over again, but then Draco looked at him that way. With those molten silver eyes and that pearly white, yet unsure smile, like he never learned to do it quite right, and Harry melted.

 

"Yeah, sure. Wizarding restaurant it is." He didn't give himself a chance to think about all the questions he would have to answer later or the autographs Draco would have to sign. He just dove into that soft gaze that was screaming please-let-me-do-this and agreed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> idK


	22. - v -

The dinner, Harry decided as he sat back and ruffled his youngest son's hair, was delicious. The restaurant was beautiful. And everything was going great until a fan came up to Draco for an autograph. Then another fan joined that one, then another and another and soon they were causing such a commotion he had to leave the restaurant and sign things outside. That would have been fine too, except that meant  Harry was left to be the star of the show sitting in at a restaurant with his children instead of just grabbing something to go. He wasn't in hiding per say, but he tried to keep the kids out of the light as much as possible. He stood which made both boys look down dejectedly before following suit and allowing him to usher them from the building.

 

"-solutely love your rendition of **_Let Me Love The Lonely_**. It was seriously beautiful."

 

"Thank you," Draco says from in front of the sweet fan while signing what looked to be the back of her shirt. "I have a bit of experien- Harry?" The blonde says interrupting himself. He stands back up and turns to look back into the restaurant only to find his family at the door. "You didn't have to come out here. I didn't mean to ruin dinner..."

 

"Oh, you didn't. You left so the star power switched to me and I wasn't in the mood for having all eyes on me."

 

The paler man snorted at that.

 

"Potter, it's almost as if you're saying you hate the attention. That can't be, can it?" He said sarcastically while nudging the slightly shorter man before him.

 

"My cover's blown! How'd you figure me out?" The ravenette responded covering his eyes with the back of his hand dramatically like he was only moments from fainting.

 

"That's for me to know and you to only guess at." The blonde shot back then turned a bit and saw the rest of his little fangroup waiting for autographs. "I have a few more things to sign, I can meet you at the house if you'd like to take the boys in-"

 

"But we're not ready to go in, Dad!" yelped James Lucius racing over to tug on his Father's coat tail. "It's movie night, remember? We _have_ to go to the cinema!"

 

A confused look passed over his face and Harry was reminded of the dorky wizarding Draco Malfoy he had fell in love with years ago that was new to the muggle world and even more so to being his own person.

 

"We're going to head over now, Jamesie," chuckled Harry lifting his son and tossing him playfully over his shoulder. "Let your father finish being famous. He'll meet us when he's done, yeah?"

 

"Wouldn't miss it for the world," agreed Draco, walking around Harry's back to place a kiss on James' forehead. The boy started squirming, forcing his dad to hold on tighter and shove the blonde man as soon as he was able.

 

"No kisses, Dad!" James ordered still squirming a bit.

 

"But-" he tried to protest, but the smaller boy beat him to it.

 

"Not in public, nobody is gonna think I'm cool like that."

 

"Your dad is famous, does that not make you cool enough?" Draco motioned towards the slightly shorter man with a confused expression.

 

"Yeah," said James with a dramatic eyeroll Harry knew was Draco's doing."To old people!" Both men froze for a second and decided to shake it off. They were past that now. The boys would learn more once they got to Hogwarts. They both looked down at James who had paused for a second like he was weighing his options. Where he learned that, Harry assumed it was probably Hermione. "Can I watch you sign autographs?"

 

The blonde looked up and looked into the darker man's green eyes for confirmation that this was okay. Since coming back to be with his family, he had learned to step lightly. This- being with them- was a privilege he wasn't going to give up and he knew Harry too well to just assume everything the ravenette said was _fine_ was really fine. He knew dinner in a wizarding place was pushing it even moreso being that he was having dinner with Draco and the boys. It was probably a press field day, on both of their parts.

 

"I don't mind," the blonde says shrugging, but still staring into those deep green eyes of the only man he could ever remember loving this much. "But you have to ask your dad first."

 

"Draco, you don't have to do that," says Harry scratching awkwardly at the back of his head, finally looking away and breaking their eye contact. "Of course he can sit with you. You're his father too...I- I'm not going to stop him from hanging out with you. Teddy and I will just go over and wait in the cinema. Right?" He looked down at the slightly older boy who smiled up at him and nodded.

 

"Yeah, dad! Of course. Why would I sit around with these losers," he joked before responding seriously. "I really don't want to sit out here watching him write his name over and over."

 

Harry laughed and moved to throw an arm over Teddy's shoulder when his phone started to ring. He eased it out of his pocket and looked questionably at the screen before eyeing each of the guys in front of him.

 _The boys are okay... Maybe that isn't the real Draco_ , he thought to himself, narrowing his eyes.

"Draco, where did we first meet?" Harry asked still looking down at his phone.

 

"Why do you want to-"

 

"Answer the question," he said sharply, nerves getting the best of him.

 

"Madam Malkin's we were getting fitted for our robes, you forgetful prat," he answered, the last part mumbled. "I don't see why that mat-"

 

 _That's definitely Draco, then. So who the bloody hell would be calling him from the Muggle Hospital?_ Harry thought panicked. He answered the phone with a shaking: "Hello?"

 

"Oh, Harry!" Draco heard a grieved voice on the other end. The voice spoke faster and got more worried as they continued and he couldn't understand what was going on anymore. He looked on as Harry's once smiling face fell into shock then sadness before he bolted.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> next few chaps will get angsty...but like within reason


	23. - w -

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> fun fact:
> 
> My Gam's birthday is April 3rd.  
> She died in 2011.
> 
> this month is always rough on my depression...so yeahhh *finger guns*

Harry dropped his phone onto the concrete and Draco watched as the screen shattered before snatching his gaze to the darker man in front of him who had dropped to his knees to tell both of the boys to stay put and running off in the opposite direction. When the blonde went to follow his son grabbed his shirt and stopped him. When he looked down James' hazel eyes were full of tears and his bottom lip was trembling to keep him from crying out.

"What's wrong, JL? What's happened?" Draco said staring down past those glasses into his son's saddened, tearful eyes.

The boy shook his head, not knowing what to say as the tears finally fell. Behind him Teddy sniffled, but crossed his arms and looked away from Draco as if he could stop the man from seeing him cry as he spoke.

 

"Aunt Val is in hospital."

 

" _What!?_ " he yelped looking down at the boy who was trying so hard not to cry next to him and then towards the one who was bawling against him, his freckles stark against his red tearstained cheeks. He didn't like the woman, sure, but she wasn't exactly _un_ likable. They just had conflicting desires. He wouldn't have wished her ill and now... 

 

"Yeah," Teddy responded, still forcing himself not to look at him. "She was in an accident. Pops said to stay with you."

 

"Okay, guys," Draco said with a nod trying to contain the situation and not work the boys up anymore. "Movie night is going to have to wait. We're going to head on in, yeah?" He looks down at them for responses, but they both seemed too agitated. He bends over and reaches for Harry's phone. When he picks it up the screen lights up on an image of Draco and the kids from when they'd went to the park. Right where Draco's hand met James' was where the cracking screen started. He ran his finger over it and bit back a curse when the glass cut him.

 

"I want to go see Aunt Val," James screeched through his tears. "I want her to be okay."

 

"Shut up, James! We can't go until Pops gets back and he won't take you if you're crying like a little baby! He's probably going to send us to Gam's house."

 

Draco didn't know what to say about Teddy's angry voice over his newfound attitude with his brother who he had, up til now, always been the nicest to. He grabbed both of their hands and apparated straight to the sidewalk in front of their home.

 

 **\--:-** -

 

Harry was sitting with his head in his hands when a soft, weak hand gripped his shoulder. He wasn't sure whether he wanted to scream or sob or-

"Hey, there, my magic man," said a voice just as weak as the rest of her.

 

"Val!" He said snapping his head up to stare into her deep brown eyes. Her straight hair was tangled and curling at the roots, probably from the last time it rained. Harry ran a hand down the side of her face, softly. "I'm so glad you're okay. What happened?"

 

"Stop fussing over me," she said lovingly pushing his hand away as he fiddled with her pillow case. She looked down as she spoke, clearly spooked by her own experience. "I was- My blood sugar got low when I was driving back from the cemetery. I uh- I passed out and someone rammed into my passenger side door." She sniffled and Harry could tell she was trying not to cry.

 

"Oh gods, Val," he said apologetically, noting his own forgetfulness. "It's your mum's birthday. Where's Wyatt? Why wasn't he with you?"

 

"My dear brother," she spit sarcastically. "Is over in the colonies for the rest of the month."

 

"He went to America and left you to deal with this on your own?" Harry looked surprised, but he was more angry than that. "Why didn't you call _me_? I would have come with you to the cemetery."

 

"Hare," she said softly reaching a hand out to rub the crinkles out of his forehead with her thumb. "Mum has been dead for more than a year now. I don't need Wyatt to babysit me. Nor do I need you to. Now calm down, you're going to pop a vessel if you don't relax. I'm fine. I promise. A little shaken up, but nothing a little R&R can't fix, right?" Her doe eyes were looking at him with a clear plea for him to let it go and he can't help, but to agree.

 

"I still wish you would have called me," he looked into her eyes just as pleadingly and she looked away. "You _know_ I'm here for you. I will continue to be here for you, as long as you need me to be."

 

"You have someone to be there for, a _few_ someones actually, and none of them are me," she spoke without looking at him. He slid a hand under her chin and turned her head softly to face him, staring into nothing but those soft brown eyes.

 

" _You_ are what's important right now. D'you hear me, Val? I'm here for you."

 

When she places a chaste kiss on his lips, he doesn't say anything, he just gives her a small smile and sits back in the recliner beside her bed as they fall into a companionable silence.

 

**\--:--**

 

Draco backs away from the door quietly then spins to face James and Teddy with a plastered on smile. They had come to the hospital after he could get them to calm their hysteria. They asked about Val's health and the nurse behind the desk was happy to tell them she was fine. A mix of her knowing the kid's were Harry's and then recognizing DL Black, got them a free pass to Val's room. Draco only wished she would have kept them a little longer.

"Alright, tykes," he says in a conspiratorical whisper, false calm keeping his voice from wavering. "It seems we have taken too long and the kiddies are fast asleep. So, I am going to take you to your grandmother's house and Harry will come get you to visit when he gets up, yeah?"

 

"My gam or Teddy's gam?" asks James, hazel eyes big and inquisitive behind his glasses. Confusion was all over Draco's face even as he forced out a questionable: "Andromeda?"

 

"So Teddy's gam, then?"

 

"She's your Gam too, JL," the blonde man says growing more anxious to leave by the second. What if Harry came out and saw them. What would he do? What would he _say_? What did you say when you came to check on the wellbeing of the ex-girlfriend of your lover and father of your child only to find her kissing said fatherly figure without so much as a warning.

 

"But if you're my dad, wouldn't she be like..." he thought for a minute. "Like my great aunty or something?"

 

"She takes care of you, right?" The boy nods. "And she's been your Gam for this long, right?" He nods again. "She still loves you like a Gam. So it'd be rude to just tell her that she _isn't_ your Gam anymore even though she acts just like one, don't you think?"

 

"I hadn't thought of it that way," James whispered loudly, covering his mouth as if he had just said a swear word.

 

"I'm glad you figured it all out, Jamesie. I like sharing Gam with you," said Teddy smirking at him in a way that Draco could see was something he had taken to calling a Harry-ism. It was when either of the boys did something he could clearly tell they had learned from the bespectacled git who spent so much time with them.

 

"Now, to the floo with you," he joked softly, though he was starting them towards the nearest floo he could find. When they made it to a clear fireplace he kissed both of their foreheads and ruffled their hair before reminding them that he loved them. They gave him strange looks before confirming that they loved him too.

He sent them each away in soft green flames before stepping into them himself and dusting himself off as he entered Harry's house and made the very conscious decision to start packing.

It took an hour (maybe 2 at the most), but anything he had bought in the short while since he had been back, he stuffed into his duffel bag and pulled out his wand to unwatchingly shrink it and send it into his pocket. He left Harry a note letting him know where the kids were. Draco was an adult now, he wasn't running away just for an excuse to have Harry looking for him, he was leaving because he knows when he isn't wanted and he can tell he has overstayed his welcome.

He wand called his mother to tell her what was going on and once she was caught up, he locked the house up, replacing the wards Harry had taught him to set and putting the spare key under the welcome mat before stepping from the porch and disapparating.

 

He appeared in Wiltshire with a shaky breath before making the walk down to his childhood home, Mother was waiting.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> how do you think it's all going to end? any guesses? lol.


	24. - x -

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is actuality one of my favorite chapters

"You can't stay here, avoiding Harry forever, dear," Narcissa says pouring another cup of tea and handing it over to her son. She sighed heavily when he sifted four spoonfuls of sugar into the tiny cup before taking a sip. "You've been here for months."

 

"I'm not avoiding Potter," he said petulantly, spitting the name like an insult. Something he hadn't done in what seemed like forever. "I have years worth of experience avoiding Potter. I could avoid Potter in his own house and he would think I moved to the states."

 

"Then why are you staying with your mother?" she asked not unkindly, pushing back a lock of pale hair not too unlike her son's.

 

"I'm avoiding his _partner_ ," Draco responds scoffing and pouring another spoonful of sugar into his tea. "He was dating a muggle woman and she- uh- she got into a vehicular accident. She really loves him and it's clear that he cares for her too, so I stepped down. Made it easier for them, as it were. Avoiding her makes it less awkward. She broke up with him in the first place so he could have me, and he _had_ me, so..." he shrugged once he had finished talking, but his eyes were transfixed with the liquid in his mug before he went in for another tentative sip.

 

"You love him?" she asked, though it was more of a statement than a question. Draco rolled his eyes and answered anyway.

 

"I'll always love him, mother. I mean, the only other person I've been with since I went to the states was Blaise. That was only because I was drunk and lonely and- we are better as friends and he's much happier being a bachelor."

 

"And what about James Lucius and Teddy?"

 

"Of course I love them!" He squeaked offended.

 

"Not enough to visit them when Harry is over at Andy's," she said with raised eyebrows at his offended tone. Her point was fair even if it wasn't true.

 

"I don't love them any less just because I don't go on certain afternoons. I know he'll be there and I don't want to create problems." He slowly placed his tea cup onto its saucer before returning it to the table and narrowing his eyes at her. "What are you getting at, Mother?"

 

"I just think you should talk to him. You're a grown man,you can't just throw a- a strop whenever you don't like something," she was looking up at Draco who had stood halfway through her statement to point a dramatic but accusatory finger at her.

 

"Oh my Salazar," he whispered aghast. "You've spoken to him!"

 

"He brought up a few good points." She was standing now making her way to him. "He said he doesn't know what was going on with you and you must have been upset about the fact that he stormed off for his muggle friend and were throwing a strop about it."

 

"For fucks- Mother! Stop saying I'm throwing a bloody strop! I would have thought you were him if I didn't know better."

 

"I'm just telling you what he said; and sad to say, dear, but it sounded like something you'd do. You do have a bit of a temper and a pretty muggle friend sounds like something that would set you off," Narcissa said before picking her tea up and walking from the room as if it was holding some sort of grudge against her Earl Grey. Draco stormed after her.

 

"And what makes you say that, may I ask?"

 

"You have quite the flair for the dramatic, my dragon." She tossed the door to her study open before sitting at her desk and picking up her wand. "I assume you gather that from your father, Merlin rest his soul."

 

"Stop talking about him like he's dead" The young blonde man said pinching the bridge of his nose. "He's not dead. He's in Azkaban."

 

"Then he's as good as, is he not?"

 

"Yet you're calling me dramtic?" He says sarcastically under his breath before answering with the only information he was allowed to know. "He's getting out in two years, Mother. You get updates by owl every week, you should know this."

 

She merely pointed at a stack of unopened envelopes, 13 years old, beneath one of the rooms great windows. He stared at them surprised as she scratched out a response to someone else on a piece of rose-scented parchment.

 

"You haven't read any of them?" He said in awe. "You haven't read a single letter about father's well-being in the last 13 years since he's been away? So I'm assuming you haven't been to visit him either? He's been looking for you, for Merlin's sake!"

 

"And where do you get off acting like a proud Gryffindor?" she said turning on him. "You left Harry to raise your child alone for eight years! You didn't even go looking for him. I ignored those letters because your father treated us both like less than pawns in a game he didn't even _control_. He tore our family apart. _He_ did that, not me. 15 years is not even close to enough to what he deserves and you know it." Narcissa pointed her quill at Draco's chest almost to prove her point before laying it back on the desk. "He needs to spend his time in Azkaban realizing that what he did was wrong, not getting coddled by me because he's having a 'bad term'!"

 

"That's completely different and you know it," he says sounding hurt.

 

"Do I?" she asked, her voice icy and sharp. "And what about now? You're hiding out here in the manor because Harry ran off to help a friend?"

 

"No," he snapped finally. "I expect Potter to run off every time one of his friends call for help, because that's what he _does_ , Mother. I came here- I came home- looking for comfort because I caught my boyfriend kissing his ex-girlfriend and then bloody smiling about it!"

 

He brushed his hair out of his face and crossed his arms before turning away from her surprised yet pitying face.

 

"My dragon, why didn't you just-"

 

"I'm moving out. It seems I have over stayed my welcome here in the manor. I should get a place to stay during my off seasons where the boys can reach me, don't you think?" Before she could respond he was off to pack the few things he had even decided to take out of his boxes.

 

**\--:--**

 

Draco Lucius Malfoy heaved a sigh of relief as he dropped the last box onto the floor. He had been staying in multiple places over the last almost 10 years and he decided it was about time he settled into one place, his argument with his mother only made it more abundantly clear that it was something he should do sooner rather than later. He sold all his other flats that he had for travel, and found a nice modern home with a nice sized yard. He stood in the living room, staring out of the large bay window at the rest of his property.

Narcissa had assured him that he didn't have to leave the morning after the argument once they had both calmed down, but he wasn't about to continue staying with his mother for Salazar's sake. He was nearing thirty and had found a job working as a muggle secretary on his off season. The trip from the office to his home was close enough to the boy's school that he could pop in to walk them to or from school some days and still have time to glamour himself before heading to work.

It was a situation he would get used to. Draco was only sure of a few things, two of which were how much he loved Harry and how much he loved the kids. Although he couldn't be there for Harry the way he wanted to be, he would most definitely do everything in his power to be there for his boys.


	25. - y -

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> time skip & sad dads

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> another favorite :)

Harry had a habit of ignoring things that made him upset until they piled up so high inside of him that they had no choice but to burst and destroy everything within a 5 foot radius. Valeria Cross was pretty sure that was just an expression until the air around her was sizzling and the glass sconces were vibrating.

"Uh...Hare? Anything on your mind?" she asked and he looked over towards her in that way he did sometimes where his eyes were blank and he was staring right at her, but it was like he wasn't seeing her at all. He had done it before. Of course he had. He was a single father and was traumatized by his past when she had first met him. She had given him passes back then, but his trances had never been more blank or more unguarded with a look of somebody who just wanted to be needed than after Draco had come and gone.

When she didn't say anything else for a while, Harry turned his unfocused gaze elsewhere again and began fiddling with the button clasp on the left wrist of his jacket sleeve. When they had first gotten together she thought it was just a nervous tick, that though Harry could do some things ambidextrously he was mostly left handed.

 

She had been wrong.

 

Harry favored his right hand, which means, looking back, Draco had probably always favored the darker man's left. It was more of a lonely tick than a nervous one, she corrected mentally. She didn't want to think about the fact that he wasn't alone since she was sitting right there and the kids were upstairs, because she knew she wasn't who he wanted there.

It wasn't too complicated to ease back into the routine they had taken up when she was dating him, but it's clear there was a gaping Draco Malfoy sized hole in the center of this family. From there it wasn't hard to see all the places that he had fit into, all the nooks and crannies that he had filled in her boys' lives. All the places that were too big for her now.

Val would walk James and Teddy to school, since Harry was too out of it to do anything but go to work and come home and apologize and try to clean the house, mostly because he only knows how to help everyone else. After school she watched the boys walk to Draco's house down the block from their school, because the one day he had come to get them he saw her there and never came back. He sends them home by floo, which, she finds out while reading curled up on the couch, is the fireplace. When June hits and the summer comes, the boys floo to Draco's place for days at a time. Ron and Hermione pick them up from there for weekends at the Weasleys'.

The boys seem happier for it, but the floo- and the rest of Draco's home -is " **unplottable** ", whatever that means which sends Harry into even more of a tizzy because Draco won't even face him like a man. She is pretty sure that's what hurts Harry the most, though. That he is being tortured but he doesn't even know why, as if having a reason will justify it.

She doesn't understand why the actual-bloody-fuck Harry loves this guy so much when he continues to leave him whenever he feels like it, with not even a thought about how Harry might feel. She tells all her friends that actually like DL Black that he's a coward and a fraud and they look at her like she's lost it.

The next time Valeria Cross sees Draco Malfoy in person, they are both in the grocery picking up James' favorite cereal. It's been three years since her accident and her one year anniversary with Harry is coming up soon. DL Black has been on tour three times and released another album. The boys have been spending weeks with Draco over the summer and when he notices who it is looking at him she can almost physically see him age 30 years. He looks so weary to see her that she can't seem to keep her festering anger alive.

"Hey, Draco, how're you?"

 

"Fine," he says before grabbing two boxes of cereal, dropping them into the basket in his hand and turning away to head towards the cashier. "Goodbye."

 

She looked in his direction in shock before storming after him.

 

Draco Malfoy had been having a perfectly okay, afternoon, thank-you-very-much. He had turned down a promotion at his muggle job and took a raise instead, he had the boys for the rest of the week, and his Aunt Andromeda was coming over for tea. He steered his body towards the cashier when he heard that woman coming after him. He placed the basket on the counter and left. He'd just be back later.

He didn't want to see her. It _hurt_ to see her. To know that Harry had her and was happy with her. That the messy haired ravenette had preferred her.

 

"You didn't even buy anything!" she yelled after him once he had made it empty-handed to the automated door. He pretended he couldn't hear her and rushed as far away from the grocer as he could. Before he could apparate there was a hand and nails digging into his arm. "You are a coward, Draco Malfoy. Nothing but a cow-"

 

"So you've caught on then have you?" He said angrily to her, finally breaking. "I dont like you so I _know_ I can't face him. He'll want us to be friends and be happy, but I wake up some mornings and _I hate you_. I hate you for taking him from me. I wake up with a hex on my lips and the urge to murder you in your sleep...but I couldn't do that to him."

 

"Y-You hate _me_?" she looked at him aghast. "How do you think I feel about you!? He's been a fucking shell of a man after you left him. **Again**. All you ever do is leave him. Whenever things get too hard for you, you leave, huh?"

 

"Seemed like the best option to get out of the way when it was clear he wanted someone else," he said turning and snatching his arm from her grip. He continued to walk a bit further and yet she still followed behind him.

 

"What the hell do you mean he wanted _someone else_? He's barely talked since you-"

 

"I saw you!" he finally snapped. "Okay? I saw you two kissing! The boys and I came to the hospital. They wanted to see you. Potter had just run off, I was trying to make sure you weren't dead. Look, he made his decision, so I made mine. I'm here for the boys, not either of you. Goodbye." This time he disapparated without a second thought. She wouldn't be catching up with him this time.

 

Draco reappeared just on his lawn and he hurriedly made his way up the porch steps and into his house before getting an excited floo call from the boys. Teddy, who was already a student at Hogwarts and James Lucius, who was heading there once the summer ended, were bubbling over with energy to tell the blonde musician that Potter and _Aunt Val_ were taking them on a camping trip before school started.

Draco smiled at his boys because it would hurt them if he didn't, but inside he felt his heart break a little more. He called up Serafina. If the boys didn't need him he should probably finish recording his next album. He wasn't needed here.

 

It's with a start, he realizes he never had been.


	26. - z -

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> spAm posTiNG is doNe. for this fic at least. lol.

"Hey uh- Father?" says James Lucius the next day as he sits at the table in Draco's kitchen, pushing pieces of cereal around in his bowl. "Are you really okay with us going with Dad and Aunt Val on a camping trip? You don't have to say yes, you know?" Draco sighs because this is not short of the fifteen times the boy has asked the same question.

 

"Yes, JL, I'm positive," He responded nodding calmly. "You guys deserve a last bit of freedom before you're completely cut off from the outside world." Teddy was sitting on the couch playing a muggle video game and stopped to agree with the blonde man.

 

"Yeah, Jamesie, you'll be glad we went out and did something. Remember I was so nervous my first year that I spent the last few weeks hiding out in my room? When I got to school I was so mad that I didn't let Dad take us to Romania. Camping will be fun."

 

"It's JL," whined James, shoving a spoonful of sugary cereal into his mouth. "I just- You know how Dad gets when he's reminded about _whatever_...And he said that's the last time he's been camping."

 

"You think it'll be better if I'm there?" Draco asks sitting next to his son.

 

"Well yeah, he misses you," the boy responds, mumbling the last part.

 

"Oddly enough," says the man ruffling his son's hair. "I doubt that's the case."

 

"He really does miss you," says Teddy pausing the game and looking over at the older blonde nonchalantly, before pressing play again and continuing to smack shadows around with a giant key. "And none of us really get why you left in the first place. I mean, I thought- we _all_ thought things were going well, then you just left again. I'm not judging you or anything. It's just Aunt Val got hurt and you left and-" He shrugs. "I don't know, it'd be cool if you came with us."

 

"I'll see what I can do, but I doubt they'll want me there. I chose to leave even if it was hard, because...wel- It doesn't matter now. I did what was best for everyone."

 

"No," said James angrily, pushing his bowl off of the table. Teddy turned off the game and watched the scene unfolding before him with wide eyes. "You did what was best for _you_! Just like you always do! You don't care about me or about Dad or Teddy or Gam or- or anybody!" The boy stood and shoved his chair back under the table before storming over to the fireplace and grabbing a handful of floo powder. "C'mon, Teddy." He didn't look back as he threw the floo powder into the fireplace and yelled his home address. It wasn't long before the blue haired boy followed after apologizing and giving Draco a quick hug. He thought best not to let the older man know that he had seen him crying.

The older man sighed and placed his head in both hands then noticed his face was wet with tears. He wiped his eyes then removed his wand and cleaned the mess off of the floor. He'd been in the boys' lives for a few years now, but he still wasn't as good or well-versed in wandless cleaning charms as Harry had become. He still washed the rest of the dishes by hand just to have something to do. A lot of what he did these days were meaningless tasks to keep him from falling apart. He had told himself that he wasn't going to ruin the boys' view of Harry or Val, for that matter. James and Teddy needed their constant presence more than they needed him.

 

When his wand started vibrating on the counter he was more than tempted to snap it in half.

 

**\--:--**

 

"I told you he wouldn't answer," said James with an attitude as he sat on his Dad's lumpy couch with his arms crossed. Harry was standing in front of him wearing nothing but a towel around his waist and was angrily staring down at him.

 

"Why did you leave your father's house in the first place?" he asked, placing his wand on the mantle and rubbing at his temple with the other hand. "You're supposed to call first. You know better, James Lucius."

 

"Why does it matter?"

 

"What if I wasn't home?" The messy-haired man says upset.

 

"Teddy would have been here with me," the younger boy responds with a shrug, not looking his dad in the eye.

 

"What if something were to happen and no one knew where you were?"

 

"Well you see where I am, don't you," James says still angry, but less so. "He doesn't even care about us, Dad. Not really. If he cared, he wouldn't have left in the first place. Not before I was born and not when things were finally working out."

 

"That's not true!" yelled Teddy at his younger brother, and it seemed like the outburst surprised him just as much as it surprised his dad. "Sure he shouldn't have left, but you can't say he doesn't love you. If he didn't love you, do you think he would be working a muggle job all the damn time?"

 

"Teddy! Language!" Harry said still surprised.

 

"No! He doesn't get to be a brat today!" Teddy was standing in front of James and his hair was glowing red. "You have both of your parents, okay? It may not be an ideal situation, but I've never even met mine. You have so many people that love you. I mean, everyone in this house loves you. Gam loves you. And you know Papa Draco loves you too. He's working so hard to stay in your life even though it hurts him and it's like you don't even care."

 

"What do you mean it hurts him? He seems perfectly fine to me." James still had his arms crossed.

 

"You're an idiot. He still loves, Dad, you doofus! And in case you don't own a mirror, you look just like him, but he still laughs and talks and hangs out with us because he _wants_ to. Because he _**loves**_ us. Because he wants to be in your life and all you ever do is talk about what he does wrong. ' _Aunt Val doesn't make breakfast that way'_."

 

"I didn't say that."

 

"' _Aunt Val doesn't sing that song when she makes pancakes_.'"

 

"I don't sound like that."

 

"' _Aunt Val plays games with us_.'"

 

"Well she _does_."

 

"He's trying, James! He's here and he's alive and he is trying! And I'm tired of you always yelling at him. I'm done covering for you." Teddy turned to their dad and started talking and didn't finish until he had told every bad thing James Lucius had done at Draco's house. "-so that's why we're home early. We were trying to convince him to come camping with us and when he didn't say yes immediately, James yelled at him and came home. You know," he said turning back to his little brother. "For someone who loves to yell at him about leaving all the time you do the same thing when you get mad."

 

"We're going camping. _Right now_. We all need some space and luckily for us camping means we'll have tons of it," said Harry trying to keep his calm before simply picking his wand back up and waving it a few times and calling for Val when he heard her yelp. "I'm going to get dressed, and we're leaving as soon as I get back downstairs."

 

It took less than 20 minutes for them to pack the car and leave for a muggle campsite.

 

It took more than 20 minutes for Draco to show up at Harry's door for the first time in three years and knock. When no one answered he sighed and returned to his house. It was clear no one in this house needed him and they definitely didn't want to see him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yes, there will be a sequel. how ya feeling about this though? what side are you on?


End file.
